Right performs best in French elections
Socialist candidate François Hollande and President Nicolas Sarkozy will contest a run-off on May 6.
Socialist candidate François Hollande is leading President Nicolas Sarkozy after the first round of French elections.
But overall the right exceeded the left among the four main candidates.
Mr Hollande garnered between 27-28% of the vote, according to pollsters, compared with 25-27% for Mr Sarkozy.
They now go into a run-off election on May 6, as neither received more than 50% of the initial vote.
Turnout was strong at an estimated 80.3%, although below the exceptionally strong voter participation seen in 2007.
National Front leader Marine Le Pen came in third, with a strong showing of 19-20%, while Leftist Front leader Jean-Luc Melenchon gained between 10-12%.
A fifth candidate, perennial campaigner and centrist François Bayrou, polled less than 9%.
Theoretically, if most of Ms Le Pen’s votes go to President Sarkozy and Mr Melenchon’s to Mr Hollande in the run-off, the right stands a good chance of winning despite entrenched media opinion that the left will triumph.
Mr Sarkozy was elected in 2007 on the promise that he would energise France's economy, shrink its large public sector and halve the unemployment rate to 5%.
But when the global financial crisis struck in 2008, he was forced to rey on debt to support banks and manufacturers as well as maintain most welfare payments.
Unemployment is at a 13-year high of nearly 10% and public debt is nearly 90% of the country's annual output, up from 64% in 2007.
For his part, Mr Hollande is promising taxes of up to 75% on high earners and even more revanchist economic policies.
Nevil Gibson
Mon, 23 Apr 2012
Mon, 23 Apr 2012
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Right performs best in French elections
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