France goes to the polls this weekend to elect its President, with a second round run-off, if required, taking place a fortnight hence, reports Tom Rouse.
.
France goes to the polls this weekend to elect its President, with a second round run-off, if required, taking place a fortnight hence.
The final week of campaigning ahead of the first round of voting on Sunday has seen a bitter war of words between supporters of President Sarkozy and his Socialist rival François Hollande.
M. Sarkozy’s campaign was dealt a fresh blow when a close aide of Jacques Chirac confirmed the former president would be voting for M. Hollande.
The race is expected to go to a second round, with the two men neck and neck on 27% each in an Ipsos poll published earlier this week, but the challenger looks to have a strong advantage in future rounds, with the same survey giving him a 12% lead in any head-to head contest.
However, recent polling has also suggested the parties at either extreme of French politics are likely to give a strong showing, although neither the far left or the far right are likely to produce a repeat of 2002’s upset when Fascist Jean Marie Le Pen progressed to the run-off.
• Sarkozy chases youth vote as election enters final weeks 5 Apr 2012
• Sarkozy v Hollande: French presidential race hots up 14 Mar 2012
• Desperate Sarkozy cranks up the anti-immigration rhetoric 14 Mar 2012
• Le Pen’s fascists claim French youngsters are ‘joining in their droves’ 28 Feb 2012
• Is François Hollande the next president of France? 9 Feb 2012
As BBC News reported today, amidst speculation he may approach far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon or centrist François Bayrou to shore up his support in the second round, M. Hollande said there would be no deals, “no bartering, no concessions, no exchanges”.
12 Responses to “France decides (round 1)”
Alex Braithwaite
RT @leftfootfwd: France http://t.co/oATfmsTE
It’s Sarko v Hollande, part deux | Left Foot Forward
[…] See also: • France decides (round 1) 20 Apr […]