Sarkozy Party Splits Risk Hurting Bid to Keep Parliament

Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party is fighting to keep recriminations and rivalries in check for at least another six weeks to prevent President-elect Francois Hollande’s Socialists from taking control of Parliament.

The split in Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement turns on whether to cut deals with Marine Le Pen’s anti-euro National Front for the two-round parliamentary elections on June 10-17. Her party remains offensive to many in the mainstream because it was founded by her Holocaust-questioning father, Jean-Marie.