Europeans snub left-leaning parties

Conservatives raced toward victory in some of Europe's largest economies Sunday as exit polls showed voters punishing left-leaning parties in European Parliament elections in France, Germany and elsewhere. Some right-leaning parties suggested the results vindicated their reluctance to spend more on company bailouts and fiscal stimulus amid the global economic crisis.
Projections showed Germany's Social Democrats heading to their worst showing in a nationwide election since World War II. Four months before a German national election, the outcome boosted conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's hopes of ending the tense left-right ``grand coalition'' that has led the European Union's most populous nation since 2005. ``We are the force that is acting level-headedly and correctly in this financial and economic crisis,'' said Volker Kauder, the leader of Merkel's party in the German parliament.
Exit polls suggested France's governing conservative party scored a resounding victory with 28.3 percent of the vote, followed by the opposition Socialist Party with 17.5 percent. French Socialists said their defeat signaled a need to rethink left-wing policies to unseat Sarkozy.
``Everything is indicating a very good result,'' French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said minutes after polls closed, attributing the result to the government's handling of its stint as rotating president of the European Union. The Socialists blamed their poor showing on the divisions that have fractured the party in the past several elections.
An EU estimate showed that only 43 percent of 375 million eligible voters cast ballots in European Parliament elections, a record low.
Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and five other EU nations cast ballots in the last three days, while the rest of the 27-nation bloc voted Sunday. Results for most countries were expected later in the day. The EU parliament has evolved over five decades from a consultative legislature to one with the power to vote on or amend two-thirds of all EU laws. Lawmakers get five-year terms in the 736-seat parliament, and residents vote for lawmakers from their own countries.
Opinion surveys and exit polls showed right-leaning governments edging the opposition in Italy and Belgium as well as Germany and France. Conservative opposition parties were tied or ahead in Britain and Spain, opinion polls showed.