In October, every French citizen who’s ready to declare “sympathy with the left” will be able to vote in primaries to choose the socialist candidate in the 2012 presidential vote. The ruling UMP says the system is open to abuse.

The UMP party has launched an offensive to discredit the opposition Socialist Party (PS) primaries which are due to take place in October of this year.

Previously PS primaries were limited to party members. October’s vote will allow anyone which could change the landscape of the political left. The socialists are hoping that they can put up an united front ahead of next year’s presidential poll.

Up until a month ago, Dominque Strauss-Kahn was the PS’s strongest potential candidate. However, is now charged with serious sexual assault in New York.

This was good news for Sarkosy however the French president failed to capitalise on the scandal.

The UMP has now launched its new strategy to discredit the primaries and undermine resurgent socialist confidence.

Popularity: 100% [?]

On Tuesday it was announced that The Bulgarian Socialists Party (BSP) will begin the next round of consultation with political forces for the submission of a no confidence vote against the cabinet.

The socialists are considering two motives for the vote: overall failure of the cabinet or failure in the internal affairs policies.

BSP is hoping for the no confidence vote to enter Parliament in July however do not insist on being the initiator of such vote.

On June 17 the cabinet survived the no confidence vote over the failure in anti-crisis policy.  The 240-member parliament rejected the motion Friday in a 124-70 vote with two abstentions. The remaining 44 lawmakers were absent. Before that it was the October 2010 for the failure in health care policy.

The government of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, which came to power in 2009, has taken unpopular measures to cut spending while trying to reduce the budget deficit.

Popularity: 77% [?]