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Tuesday, Apr 24, 2007
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International

Sarkozy establishes formidable lead

Vaiju Naravane

Front-runners hit campaign trail for second round poll

Paris: France's conservative leader Nicolas Sarkozy has established a formidable early lead over his Socialist rival Segolene Royal in the first round of the presidential election held on Sunday.

With a solid six-point lead, Mr. Sarkozy now looks confident of becoming France's next President.

Ms. Royal appeared dejected when she made her speech late on Sunday, a sombre affair without her trademark, conquering smile. "We have a clear choice between two, very different projects for society. I call on all those who believe it is possible to reform France without brutalising it, who want a triumph of human values over the stock market, who want an end to the painful rise of insecurity to come together," she said in hesitant, slow measured tones.

Mr. Sarkozy, on the contrary, appeared confident of victory. Flashing a smile to waving crowds, he said: "I want only one thing: to rally the French people around a new French dream."

One major element to emerge from the first round is the defeat of all forms of extremism, whether on the Left or on the Right. The biggest loser of this campaign was Jean Marie Le Pen, the anti-immigrant, anti-Jewish and xenophobic leader of the National Front. He polled less than 11 per cent of the vote, a contrast from 2002 when, with 17 per cent, he had edged the socialist candidate Lionel Jospin out of the second round. Mr. Le Pen's supporters left him in droves in favour of Mr. Sarkozy, who openly hunted on Le Pen territory. It now remains to be seen whether the 10 per cent die hard Lepenist vote will shift en masse to Mr. Sarkozy for the second round scheduled for May 6.

Another new factor in this election was the massive turnout. Almost 85 per cent of the 44.5 million registered voters came out to vote, beating a 42-year record. The French have decided to put away their apathy and weariness with politicians in order to invest themselves in the future of the country.

All will now depend on Centrist Francois Bayrou and his appeal to the 6.8 million persons who voted for him. It will also be interesting to see whether Mr. Sarkozy, who has been a polarising element in this campaign, will change both his behaviour and his outlook.

An opinion poll by IPSOS after the first round predicted Mr. Sarkozy would beat Ms. Royal by 54 per cent to 46 in the run-off. Both candidates went straight back onto the campaign trail on Monday, looking to woo the all important electorate of Mr. Bayrou, who came in third with 18.55 per cent.

Mr. Bayrou's Union for French Democracy (UDF) party has in the past aligned itself with Mr. Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in Parliament but the candidate has veered to the Left during the campaign. "We will not start negotiating in the wings as some usually do," said Jean-Christophe Lagarde, a deputy from Mr. Bayrou's UDF party.

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