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| Europe |
| Sarkozy, Royal pull ahead in French election race |
| 2007-04-20 |
| France's presidential election on Sunday looks set to be a traditional contest between the main right and left parties as a bid by a centrist candidate to mount a challenge loses steam, a poll on Thursday showed. With three days to go before the first round of the election, the race appears to be between former interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Ségolène Royal as the challenge from centrist Francois Bayrou fades. The survey from pollsters BVA, one of the last before the weekend, showed law-and-order hardliner Sarkozy on 29 points in the first round, ahead of Royal on 25, Bayrou on 15 and far-right veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen on 13. The other eight candidates, who stretch across the political spectrum, were well adrift. Le Pen stunned France in 2002 by knocking then-Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin out of the race, before going on to be crushed by President Jacques Chirac in the run-off. With up to 40% of voters yet to make up their mind or uncertain of their choice, the candidates are criss-crossing France to try to bolster their vote. The influential newspaper Le Monde urged the French on Thursday to set up a classic left-right second-round contest by voting for Royal or Sarkozy, saying they had the most coherent programmes and the strongest teams for eventual government. "It is important that in the second round, our 'old and dear country' can say clearly where it wants to go," it said in an editorial, without choosing between the two frontrunners. Opinion-poll leader Sarkozy, whose high-octane personality has been vilified by opponents in recent days, launched an operation dubbed "72 hours to win" on Thursday, promising events right up to the eve of the election to win over the undecided. "This operation is important because lots of people have not yet chosen," he wrote on his internet blog. "Now is the time to whip up support and enthusiasm." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 WAFF.com/LUCIANNE/OTHER > FRANCE WRESTLES WITH ITS OWN DECLINE + FRENCH ELECTIONS: THE FRENCH LEFT MOVE TO THE RIGHT. France's Lefties disavow Stalin, but still honor and suppor MARX!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-04-20 01:57 |