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Sarkozy has the edge as France votes in election |
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Written by Staff Writer
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May 06, 2007 at 06:34 AM |
France voted in an election run-off on Sunday with opinion polls suggesting conservative Nicolas Sarkozy will defeat Socialist Segolene Royal in her bid to become France's first woman president.
Sarkozy, 52, is a combative former interior minister who has promised tough reforms to make France work more, crack down on crime and cut unemployment. Royal, 53, has pledged to create jobs but has also vowed to keep cherished social protections.
Final opinion polls gave Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant who has dreamt of being president for all his adult life, a commanding 10-point lead over Royal.
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Turnout among the 44.5 million electorate was expected to be high after 84.5 percent voted in the first round on April 22, when Sarkozy and Royal eliminated 10 candidates in the race to succeed conservative Jacques Chirac after 12 years in office.The winner will inherit a fractured, fragile society in need of economic reform and a dose of self belief even though France is a nuclear power, has a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and is the euro zone's second largest economy.
"An election that will turn France upside down," said a headline in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. "Presidential D-day," declared Le Parisien newspaper.
The election marks a generational shift as Chirac, 74, bows out but just how far France is ready for change remains open to question
Polling stations in mainland France opened at 8:00 a.m. (7 a.m. British time) but about 1 million citizens in France's overseas territories and French residents in the Americas were able to vote on Saturday.
Opinion polls giving an initial indication of the result were expected immediately after voting ends at 8:00 p.m. and official results were due to start coming in soon afterwards.
Sarkozy won almost 31.2 percent of votes in the first round and Royal secured nearly 25.9 percent. Much of the second round of campaigning focused on trying to woo supporters of centrist Francois Bayrou, who was third with more than 18 percent.
Royal has proposed combining left-wing economic policies and a consensual approach to social affairs in a "change without brutality" reform package.
Sarkozy vows to shake up the hide-bound economy to boost annual growth from around two percent, reduce unemployment estimated at least 8.3 percent and boost spending power.
Royal cautioned on Friday that her rival was a "dangerous choice" whose election could spark new violence in suburbs where Sarkozy is unpopular and alienated youths rioted in late 2005.
Sarkozy's campaign team dismissed such accusations and denied charges that he is authoritarian. They portrayed Royal as a gaffe-prone lightweight who has not said how she will fund her social policies and will not be able to keep her cool.
Royal, a regional leader, defied veteran leaders of her party to capture the presidential nomination but her party and traditional leftist voters appear divided over her candidacy
Sarkozy built his campaign around the ruling Union for a Popular Movement which he heads. He also eventually won Chirac's support in the presidential race although relations between them have often been strained.
Neither is expected to drift far from Chirac's foreign policies but Sarkozy is considered closer to the United States and opposes Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
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Last Updated ( May 06, 2007 at 06:37 AM )
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World