French PM will quit if loses parliamentary seat

PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) New French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said today he would resign if he failed to win his constituency in next month's parliamentary election.

''Logic dictates that when you are beaten, you don't have the support of the people, you cannot stay in government,'' Fillon told Europe 1 radio.

''I would not have sufficient legitimacy to lead the government of France if I did not have the support of my own voters.'' The same rule would apply to his ministers, he said.

Under French law, Fillon does not need a seat in parliament to fulfil his new role and his pledge to quit is highly unusual.

Ministers must relinquish their seat to a substitute, elected on the same ''ticket'', if they accept a post in government. Fillon and 11 other members of his team are running in the June 10 and 17 legislative election and government number two Alain Juppe faces a survival battle in the southwestern city of Bordeaux where he is mayor.

Fillon, who ran Nicolas Sarkozy's successful election campaign, is leading the right's bid to secure a strong parliamentary majority for the new president that can implement his promises to shake up the hidebound French economy.

Fillon is running in Sarthe, west of Paris, and his main challenge comes from Stephane Le Foll, a close ally of Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande. In the previous poll in 2002, Fillon won the seat with 55 percent of the vote.

TOUGH BATTLE Polls suggest voters will give Sarkozy's ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) a handsome majority in parliament but some cabinet members have a fight on their hands.

Segolene Royal, the defeated Socialist candidate in this month's presidential run-off, took almost 55 percent of the vote in the constituency where Juppe is standing in Bordeaux.

The Socialists, however, are struggling to regroup after Royal's comprehensive defeat.

They are split between those like Royal who favour an alliance with centrists, those that want the party to become a traditional social-democratic unit, and a section that wants to forge alliances with the far left.

Despite failing to become France's first woman president, Royal remains the Socialist's most popular figure and some in the party are already looking to build on her strong performance in major towns at the 2008 municipal elections.

Among their targets are Perigueux mayor Xavier Darcos, the new education minister, and a number of centrists who rallied to Sarkozy. Analysts say local issues tend to dominate in such polls, making firm predictions difficult.

Reutes DS GC1828