Sarkozy’s constitution rewrite narrowly approved

FRENCH lawmakers narrowly voted through Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to rewrite the constitution last night which the president says will make France more democratic but which the opposition fears will turn it into a “monocracy”.

The deputies and senators meeting in a special congress in the chateau of Versailles voted 539 for and 357 against, meaning that the bill scraped through by just one vote as a three-fifths majority was needed.

The bill sets a two-term limit for presidents, gives parliament a veto over some presidential appointments, ends government control over parliament’s committee system and allows parliament to set its own agenda.