(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Some French adults believe former finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy should return to the cabinet, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 25 per cent of respondents would like the current Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) leader to take over if prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin resigns.

Raffarin has headed the French government since May 2002. A series of reforms to the health service and the pension system resulted in acute losses for the governing centre-right parties in the 2004 regional and European Parliament elections.

On May 29, 54.8 per cent of all French voters rejected the European Constitution in a nationwide referendum. The outcome is regarded as a rejection of the current government. French president Jacques Chirac is expected to announce changes to the cabinet today.

In November, the 49-year-old Sarkozy was elected president of the centre-right UMP. Five months earlier, Chirac declared he would not allow Sarkozy to keep his post as finance minister and head the UMP, saying this would undermine Raffarin.

Defence minister Michèle Alliot-Marie was second on the list of prospective heads of government with 13 per cent, followed by interior minister Dominique de Villepin with 11 per cent.

Polling Data

If incumbent Jean-Pierre Raffarin is sacked following France's rejection of the European Constitution, who would you prefer as prime minister?

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