French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy plans to discuss major labor and social reforms with France's influential trades unions and has no intention of "ramming through" change, a senior aide said yesterday.

Right-winger Sarkozy is expected to name moderate conservative Francois Fillon as prime minister when he takes office on May 16 with a brief to shake-up France's hidebound economy, create jobs and boost growth.

Sarkozy was with his family on a luxury yacht off the Mediterranean island of Malta yesterday on a brief holiday as he plots his cabinet line-up and strategy ahead of June parliamentary polls. He flew there on a private jet on Monday.

A Sarkozy aide could not confirm reports the jet and yacht had been lent by media mogul Vincent Bollore. Critics attacked the incoming president in the run-up to Sunday's poll win over his close ties to France's media barons.

Sarkozy needs a strong majority in the National Assembly to push through 15 billion euros ($20.4 billion) of tax cuts, tougher sentences for repeat offenders and curbs on public sector strikes in a special session of parliament this summer.

The head of the major Force Ouvriere union warned on Monday that any attempt to drive through change without consulting unions could backfire, raising questions about Sarkozy's ability to come good on campaign pledges.

Some leftists have talked of using strikes and street protests to oppose Sarkozy's policies.

However, Socialist Party boss Francois Hollande urged an end to anti-Sarkozy protests, after two nights of sporadic violence left scores of police hurt and shops damaged in Paris and a number of provincial cities.

Sarkozy is expected to return to Paris for tomorrow's commemoration of the abolition of slavery, his first public appearance as president-elect with the outgoing Jacques Chirac.

Source: China Daily/Agencies