Campaigning kicked off Monday for French parliamentary elections that newly-elected President Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party must win so he can make good on his election promises

Campaigning kicked off Monday for French parliamentary elections that newly-elected President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party must win so he can make good on his election promises.
 
The Socialists took control of the upper house Senate last year for the first time and on May 6 their candidate Hollande beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy of the right-wing UMP party to become president.
  
Now they need to wrest control of the National Assembly from the UMP to avoid the partial political paralysis the French call "cohabitation" -- having the presidency and parliament controlled by different parties.
 
The two-round vote on June 10 and 17 will see over 6,500 candidates of all political flavors battle it out for 577 seats, and Hollande's government spokeswoman on Monday stressed the importance of a Socialist majority