Socialist Delanoe formally relected as Paris mayor

   PARIS, March 21, 2008  – Bertrand Delanoe was formally elected mayor
of Paris Friday for another seven-year term during which he has promised to
make the French capital greener, ultra-modern and affordable for poorer
families.
   The Socialist, one of France’s most popular politicians and a potential
candidate in the next presidential election in 2012, was elected in a city
council vote that was a formality after his party’s victory in local elections
last Sunday.
   The mayor took over at city hall in 2001, replacing rightwinger Jean Tiberi
who had succeeded Jacques Chirac in the post when he was elected to the
presidency in 1995.
   Delanoe’s election marked the first time the Socialists held sway in the
capital since the post of Paris mayor was restored by Chirac in 1977.
   Delanoe has said that in his new term he wants more pollution-fighting
schemes such as the free bicycle rental programme "Velib" that he launched
last summer, more social housing and greater access to wi-fi wireless networks.
   The openly gay politician is at the helm of a city hall alliance dominated
by the Socialists that has been credited with a string of innovative
programmes, including "Paris Plage," a manmade beach along the River Seine
that has been drawing crowds in the summer to its deck-chairs since 2002.

AFP