PARIS (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac`s ruling UMP party could lose its outright majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, in partial elections being held.
Around one third of seats in the 321-member body are being renewed in an indirect vote Sunday by an electoral college consisting principally of some 50,000 regional and local councillors.
Candidates for the Union for a Popular Movement face a strong challenge from dissident centre-right lists in a number of constituencies, and party managers have warned that about 10 of its seats are in danger.
Heavy losses would be seized on by the left-wing opposition as the government`s third defeat after regional and European elections earlier this year, and a sign that it has lost the confidence of the public.
However any setback would be relative, as the Senate has an in-built conservative bias.
Currently the UMP has 162 seats in the 321-member body -- a majority of one. If it loses seats it will be forced to share power with a centrist bloc led by the Union for French Democracy (UDF) which is looking to make gains.
The opposition Socialists and Greens hope to win five or six new seats, but have no chance of gaining control of the chamber because the electoral method works against them.
The college system means that conservative rural areas of France are over-represented in the vote, which gives the Senate an in-built leaning to the right. This has long been a bone of contention for the left, which believes the upper chamber has lost its legitimacy.
"While claiming to act as a moderating influence, (the Senate) has in fact been a bastion of conservatism. Far from ensuring a balance of powers, it has displayed a radical opposition -- even obstruction -- to governments of the left," said the left-leaning Le Monde newspaper Sunday.
Sitting in the 17th century Luxembourg palace, the Senate`s function is to vet legislation -- though it can ultimately be over-ruled by the National Assembly -- and to scrutinise government action. Senators normally hold other positions in local government and are expected to represent their region`s interests in Paris.
Under the 1958 constitution the president of the Senate is the country`s second ranking figure and takes over from the president if he is incapacitated or dies. The current tenant Christian Poncelet, 76, is hoping for a third term but could face a challenge after Sunday`s vote.
Five government ministers were running for Senate seats, including Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin whose victory in the Vienne department was confirmed late morning. Ministers can hand their seat to a substitute and reclaim it after leaving government.
Sunday`s election is for 127 Senate seats, the others being renewed at three year intervals. Under a 2003 law, members are elected for six years instead of nine, and the number of seats is being increased to 331.
The system of voting is highly complicated, with a second round to be held during the afternoon in some constituencies. Definitive results were expected around 7:00 pm (1700 GMT).