Recent portraits of the four main
candidates in the French presidential election (Top to Bottom) rightwing
leader Nicolas Sarkozy, Socialist Segolene Royal, centrist leader Francois
Bayrou and far right-wing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. (Xinhua/AFP
Photo)
PARIS,
April 22 (Xinhua) -- Right-wing Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal
have entered the second round of the French presidential race, first results
indicated on Sunday.
Sarkozy won between 30.1 and 30.8 percent of the vote
while Royal between 25.2 and 25.9 percent, according to major survey
organizations.
Centrist candidate Francois Bayrou was placed at
third with between 18 and 19 percent of the vote, followed by far right leader
Jean-Marie Le Pen with a disappointing 11 percent.
None of the rest eight contenders got more than 5
percent.
The biggest winners are no doubt Sarkozy and Royal.
Overseas Territories Minister Herve Mariton from
Sarkozy's Union of a Popular Movement (UMP), told France 24 television that 30
percent is good results for Sarkozy.
As comparison, President Jacques Chirac won 19.88
percent of the vote in the first round in 2002.
The biggest loser among the four leading candidates
is Le Pen. In contrast to this year's 11 percent, he managed to garner 16.86
percent of the vote in the first round in 2002.
Drawing lessons from 2002, when Le Pen unexpectedly
made it into the second round with Jacques Chirac, the far right politician
chose a spacious reception venue instead of his party headquarters to cater more
celebrators.
However, history did not repeat itself and a
disappointing Le Pen arrived at the reception 20 minutes after the first results
were known while Sarkozy and Royal supporters beamed with joy and excitement in
their parties' headquarters.
Bayrou made headway this year compared with 2002 but
was unable to qualify for the second round. He got only 6.84 percent of the vote
in the first round in 2002.
In a speech to his supporters, a high-spirited Bayrou
said that with this year's presidential election, France's politics will never
be the same again.
In his speech, Sarkozy went out of his way to woo
supporters of Royal and Bayrou, by promising to build a "fraternal France."
He spent much of his six-minute speech on the
protection of the disadvantaged and tolerance for diversity, two themes that he
would not focus in his campaigning for the first round.
"I want one thing and one thing only: to bring French
people together around a new French dream," he told a cheering crowd, "a French
dream that is a fraternal republic, in which every one has a place ... where
diversity will be considered not a threat, but a wealth."
He mentioned the merits to work. But he emphasized
that he would protect the weak from woes such as violence, delinquency, unfair
competition and deteriorating working conditions.
"I want to speak to the French people about
protection without being accused of protectionism. I want to talk about the
French nation without being accused of nationalism."
He said he wants to talk to those people who find
life difficult, whose lives have deteriorated, who are in distress, who are
sick, who are handicapped, and to the aged.
"I want to give them hope. They're all entitled to hope.
I want to tell them that the France I dream about is
a France which will leave no one marginalized."
Royal, in a speech later in her hometown, Melle, 400
km southwest of Paris, vowed to change France "without tearing it apart,"
apparently to appeal to a conservative ear.
"Let me reach out my hands to you, all of you, who
believe as I do that it is not only possible, but also imperative that we should
turn our backs once and for all on a system that is spent," Royal told
supporters who kept on chanting: "Segolene, president."
"Many of us, men and women today, above and beyond
who we have voted in the first round, do not wish to see France governed by the
rule of the fittest, the rule of the jungle," she said.
Royal focused on justice, security, education and
family. "There is no respect without justice. There is no economic effectiveness
if it is not based on social progress."
She said she would insist on just rules to deal with
globalization, rejecting "unbridled liberalization."
She also promised to bring back the sense of pride to
France in the world.
"Yes, indeed, I call for a republic that is
re-thought, that is not grotty, that exercises firm, fair, equitable justice
with modernized, upgraded public services," she said.
In an apparent bid to win over votes of other
supporters in the first round, Royal said she would be "a guarantor of an
impartial state."
"I am hostage to no clan, to no pressure group, to no
financial lobby," she said.
According to an IPSOS poll conducted immediately
after the unofficial results of the first round were known, Sarkozy will defeat
Royal by taking away 54 percent of the vote in the run-off.
However, analysts believe the final outcome is far
from being certain.
Mariton, the UMP minister, cautioned that there will
be uncertainties in the run-off as supporters of Bayrou may change over to vote
for Royal.
Sarkozy may gain from supporters of Le Pen. But Le
Pen's support should not be taken for granted as the two men had tension and
bitterness in the first round as both had to fight for support of the right-wing
voters.
Royal, on her part, can rest assured of support from
part of Bayrou's supporters.
The outcome also partly relies on their revised
platforms and campaigning in the two weeks before the second round scheduled for
May 6. Related:
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- France has just concluded
the first round of its presidential vote with conservative candidate Nicolas
Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal entering the decisive run-off. Following is
the latest estimates of Sunday's results by the major survey companies in the
country:
Nicolas Sarkozy, Union for a Popular Movement: 30.1
to 30.8 percent;
Segolene Royal, Socialist Party: 25.2 to 25.9
percent. Full story
A French voter casts his ballot at a
polling station in the first round of the presidential election vote in
Nice, south-eastern France April 22, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Conservative Nicolas
Sarkozy will defeat Socialist Segolene Royal in the second round of the French
presidential election, according to a poll published Sunday. Full story
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Segolene Royal, the Socialist
candidate who made it to the second round of the French presidential race, has
vowed to change France "without tearing it apart." Full
story
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Segolene Royal is set to face
off with right-wing Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round of the French
presidential poll. If elected, she would become the first woman French head of
state in history. Following is a brief introduction to her life and career. Full story
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Nicolas Sarkozy has
qualified for a second round in the French presidential race. Candidate of the
right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), he is going to face Socialist
Segolene Royal. Following is a brief introduction to the man. Full story
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Nicolas Sarkozy, who has
qualified for the second round of the French presidential race, on Sunday went
out of his way to woo supporters of his rival, by promising to build a
"fraternal France." Full story
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Voter turnout in the
first round of France's presidential election may well be a new record high,
pollsters estimated on Sunday. Full story
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Almost three in four French
voters have cast their ballots in the presidential election by 5:00 p.m. (1600)
Sunday, three hours before all polling stations close, said the Interior
Ministry. Full story
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Major Elysee contenders
cast their ballots in the first round of the French presidential election
Sunday. Gerard Schivardi, candidate of the Workers' Party, was the first
among the 12 contenders to vote. He cast his ballot shortly after the polling
station opened at 8 a.m. Full story
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