The results of this election could change French policies for a long time to come. The French will now have to decide what their future will be like.

France opts for left-right battle

Voters now faced a clear choice, Mr Sarkozy told supporters
Centre-right candidate Nicolas Sarkozy will face Socialist Segolene Royal in the run-off of France's presidential election on 6 May.
With all the votes counted in Sunday's first round, Mr Sarkozy had 31%. Ms Royal, bidding to be France's first woman leader, got nearly 26%.

Centrist Francois Bayrou had 18%, and far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen almost 11%.

Voting reached near-record levels, with turnout put at almost 85% - the highest for nearly 50 years.

Disillusionment with politicians and their promises did not translate into apathy, reports the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris.

Instead, young and old alike queued at the polling booths at schools and town halls, although in their choices they remained as divided as ever.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Nicolas Sarkozy - 31.1%
Segolene Royal - 25.8%
Francois Bayrou - 18.6%
Jean-Marie Le Pen - 10.5%
Source: French Interior Ministry at 2300 GMT

Voters turned out in such high numbers that the authorities decided to allow more time for people who were still queueing.

Of the main candidates, Mr Sarkozy, a former interior minister, promised a "rupture" with the past and real economic reform, while Ms Royal has pledged a fairer society.

Both are controversial figures who have divided the French.

Mr Sarkozy is hated by the left as a reformer who many fear would change the French way of life by making the nation work harder and longer and by cutting back on its generous welfare state.

Ms Royal is also regarded with suspicion, seen as too authoritarian and conservative by some Socialists.

Addressing a cheering crowd at his election headquarters, Mr Sarkozy said France had chosen to have a real debate between two different types of politics.

"The debate should be a real debate of ideas," he said.

He went on to appeal to all voters, saying: "I invite all French people, whatever their origin, whatever their beliefs, whatever their party to unite with me."

Ms Royal also stressed that voters now had a clear choice on 6 May.

She represented those who wanted to "reform France without brutalising it", she told supporters.

"You have given me the responsibility of continuing the fight for change in order that France rises up."

Centre ground

The centrist Francois Bayrou, who said he would bring together left and right in a government of national unity, failed to capitalise on early hopes.

NEXT STAGE OF ELECTION

27 April: Campaigning restarts
2 May: Televised debate
6 May: Second round poll
10 May: Final official results

But Mr Sarkozy and Ms Royal will be bidding to win over the political centre that he energised well enough to turn the election briefly into a three-way race.

Several million French people had opted for change, Mr Bayrou told his supporters.

"From this evening, French politics have changed and will never be as before," he said.

Observers said it was a disappointing result for 78-year-old Mr Le Pen - whose prediction that he would win through to the second round, as he did in 2002, failed to materialise.

The far-right leader has, however, seen many of his ideas on patriotism and immigration filter into the mainstream campaigns.

Mr Le Pen blamed the media for his defeat and said he would announce on 1 May his position for the second round.

Together Mr Bayrou and Mr Le Pen accounted for some 30% of the votes. Six other left-wing candidates won a total of about 10%, while two other conservative candidates together picked up more than 3.5% of the vote.

Sarkozy is France's best bet to become relevant again, but i'd think the voters should be more concerned over right Vs. wrong.

but that's just my opinion.

I hope Sarkozy wins and I think there is a good chance he will. It the Le Pen voters shift to him along with the smaller rightist groups and if he gets anywhere near an even split of the middle of the roaders he should win the election.

I am for Sarkozy, enough of female leaders in Europe. :D

I thought his opponite was a socialist that is not left or liberal that is a horse of another collar and I think toads concept here is trying to save the world from evil socialism

Mr Sarkozy is hated by the left as a reformer who many fear would change the French way of life by making the nation work harder and longer and by cutting back on its generous welfare state.

That is not the real reason why many people, and not only leftists, hate Sarkozy. Of course he advocates a rightwing policiy, and liberals disagree. But most of all many people dislike him for both his personality and his lack of moral values. He has constantly been using far-right themas, bashing immigrants and supporting simplistic solutions to France's social problems. His past shows no real conviction or even results (as a budget minister, he is responsible for the worst budget deficit for decades, and as an police minister he has direct responsibility in triggering riots in 2006). The best comparison for him is Berlusconi : only his personal ambition drives him.

On the other side, Segolene Royal is not precisely a dangerous communist !
I really hope she will manage to beat him in spite of the polls.

Royal looks great, she'd get my vote just for that.

Sarkozy wants to limit immigration. That is reason enough for the French to vote for him. France is becoming El Gaul, a province of the greater Muslim world.

Warrior,
You don't consider Socialist to be on the left side of the political continuum? Just where would you place them?

Nicolas Sarkozy 2/7
Segolene Royal 11/4

All I know is Royal is surprisingly attractive.

thats odd because in america liberla female politicians are all haggard old bags it seems. maybe constantly being in a bad mood does that to person.

Sarkozy wants to limit immigration. That is reason enough for the French to vote for him. France is becoming El Gaul, a province of the greater Muslim world.

Warrior,
You don't consider Socialist to be on the left side of the political continuum? Just where would you place them?

It's precisely the way Sarkozy wants to limit immigration that makes me worry about his vision of democracy. Police has been using increasingly brutal methods during these last years under his direction, with poor result on real crime, but raising tensions between communities, and commiting many violation of human rights. Foreign people and french people from foreiggn origin are treated like shit. This is absolutely not my conception of what France should be.

About "socialism" : remember this word has a very diffrent meaning in Europe and USA. Here it is a very moderate party, similar to the democrats in the USA or to the Labour in UK. Lefwing, sure, but closer to the middle of the political continuum than from the left.

Astrapol,

Sarkozy is hated by the left because of the way he dealt with the rioting by Muslim youth. Rather than kowtow to them he brought the hammer of the law down upon their heads. Perhaps if there were more Sarkozys, willing to do the unpopular but correct thing there would be fewer youth rioting.

If I was a French citizen I would vote for him. I might even vote for Le Pen rather than Royal.

Have to say, Id vote Sarkozy, but I wouldnt shag him

Have to say, Id vote Sarkozy, but I wouldnt shag him
ditto.

Foreign people and french people from foreiggn origin are treated like shit.

Slightly off topic here, but is it true that legal immigrants to France have basically zero chance of becoming French citizens? And that subsequent generations, even ones born in France, likely won't ever be citizens either?

The problem with France is that it's economic policies have strangled their economy. From what I've gathered from an article on the French election by Rich Lowry, only about 41% of the French actually work, their government consumes some 54% of France's GDP, their economy ranks 19th in the world. With the 35 hour work week put in place by the French government and the fact that it's almost impossible to fire someone, employers in France are very, very careful who they hire. About 50% of the French population relies on government for one form of assisstance or another.

France's economy was as robust and free as any back in the early days of the twentieth century, but after the Second World War, government planning replaced citizen and entrepreneurial innovation. With its massive beauracracy, a quarter of French employees work for the government, innovation has been stifled, which is very, very bad stance if France is to compete in a global market, dammit.

In short, France's economy is a mess. Nicolas Sarkozy did propose quite a few fixes for France's economy, but he has toned down his rhetoric now that the election has arrived. If France keeps on with its welfare state ideals, it's going to bankcrupt the French. So, this election should be interesting.

Dammit.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzkxNmZlZmQ5MTVmNDE4ZWYwY2MwMzc1ZjQ2NDUxMTQ=

If Sarkozy had not been leading a disatrous and provocative policy for years, there would have been no riots.
The first thing Sarkozy did when he became interior minister was to suppress the local police forces who patrolled in neighbouhoods. These guy knew the people, were accepetd by them, and were very able to solve smootgly minor problems.
Now the only response to any minor offense is to send the anti-riot forces, heavily equiped, who don't know the people and are not allowed to talk to them. No wonder any incident can trigger a riot then.

It seems what you would prefer is giving in to the law breakers rather than having lawbreaking have consequences, Astrapol.

You either have rule of law or you don't. People are either punished for breaking the law or they are not.

Rudy Giuliani was tough on lawbreakers when he was Mayor of New York City and it made the city a better place to live. He sent in the cops to arrest minor law breakers and had zero tolerance for their unlawful behavior.

It seems that is what France needs. France is fast becoming like NYC under Mayor Dinkins, a place where the criminal element feels no fear.

Now the only response to any minor offense is to send the anti-riot forces, heavily equiped, who don't know the people and are not allowed to talk to them. No wonder any incident can trigger a riot then.

THE problem, astropol, is that the Muslim immigrants are stuck without work, without a future. Law enforcement tactics by Sarkozy may have been heavy handed, but the response has more to do with inequality than with police tactics.

You French have got yourselves in one hell of a mess, you need to start digging out. The welfare gravy train has got to end, jobs need to be created, the Muslims have got to be integrated into mainstream French society or shown the door. Dammit.

Most of the Muslims in France who feel alienated are young people in they're teens and early twentys.As usual they keep to themselves in the worst housing available,which is usual with immigrant communitys,tho if these people arent encouraged to intergrate into what already is a fearful France and Europe for that matter,things will only get worse.
On the other hand, Colonialism seems to be coming back to haunt the French.

France has many serious issues to deal with : unemployment, education, healthcare, energy, European policy, environment.
Immigration is not such an issue. Like in many countries, pretending immigration is France's first problem is only a way of diverting people from the real problems by chosing a scapegoat.
Most immigrants, muslim or not, are very well integrated to french society. Most play a useful part in our towns and just want to live their life peacefully.

And about enforcing the law - I absolutley agree that lawbreakers must be stopped and that an efficient police force is necessary. And I maintain that Sarkozy's policy has been not only unefficient as regard to this issue, but in fact counterproductive. By suppressing the local police forces, he just made it harder for the police to stop crime without unnecessary violence.

Found this in Der Spiegel.


Sarkozy Builds on Lead Over Royal
Nicolas Sarkozy, the front-runner in the French presidential elections, has increased his lead in the opinion polls. Ségolène Royal has just a few hours of campaigning left to persuade France to opt for her vision of the future.

France is entering the last round in the fight for the presidency. Friday is the last day of official campaigning for Sunday's elections, which are widely perceived as a crucial choice not only between left and right but also between two visions of France.

But it may already be too late for Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal to catch up on front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy. Many French voters appear to have already made up their minds about how they will vote on Sunday, with three different opinion polls showing that the right-wing candidate Sarkozy appears to have widened his lead over Royal. The polls indicate that Sarkozy's support is between 53 and 54.5 percent, with Royal predicted to get between 45.5 and 47 percent of the vote.

After holding large rallies on Thursday night, the two candidates are making their final appeals to undecided voters on Friday, with Royal holding two open-air meetings in Brittany, and Sarkozy visiting a war memorial in the French Alps.

A heated televison debate on Wednesday night hasn't given Royal the necessary push in her campaign, even though she went on the offensive during the TV duel, ditching her softer image to go for the jugular and attacking Sarkozy's record as a member of the government.

Royal has brushed off the latest opinion polls, however. In an interview with Le Parisien published on Friday, she said that "the only thing that matters is the vote by the French people." She has appealed to voters to choose her as the candidate least likely to cause harsh ruptures in French society. She told RTL radio on Friday morning that "The choice of Nicolas Sarkozy is a dangerous choice, I do not want France to be orientated toward a system of brutality." And she told Le Parisien that her rival had the same "neo-conservative ideology" as US President George W. Bush.

Sarkozy's response was to accuse Royal of being "extreme." Speaking on Europe-1 radio on Friday, he said "She is not in a good mood this morning, it must be the polls."

What unites these two very different candidates is an agreement that there is an urgent need for change in France -- but while Royal sees the state as the preferred instrument to carry out these changes, Sarkozy is more in favour of market-led reforms.

France has been in decline in recent years, with a lethargic economy, high unemployment -- particularly among young people -- and tensions simmering in the crumbling suburbs. These tensions erupted in 2005 with week-long riots by minority youths, who Sarkozy, then the interior minister, famously referred to as "rabble." This kind of rhetoric hasn't done Sarkozy much harm, and has probably helped him attract some of those who voted for Jean-Marie Le Pen of the far-right National Front in 2002.

For Royal, the path to the Élysée Palace is looking increasingly rocky in the light of the latest opinion polls. The TNS-Sofres poll gives Sarkozy 54.5 percent and Royal 45.5 percent, the CSA-Cisco poll gives a narrower gap, with 53 percent saying they intend to vote for the conservative candidate and 47 going for the socialist. Another poll, carried out by Ipsos shows Sarkozy at 54 percent and Royal at 46 percent.

Both candidates have courted the centrist politician Francois Bayrou, who won 18 percent of the vote in the first round of elections on April 22. Although he has refused to back either candidate, he did tell Le Monde in an interview on Thursday that "I will not be voting for Sarkozy," saying that he threatens to aggravate the divisions within French society.

Meanwhile, the center-left Le Monde has finally decided to back Royal. In an editorial on Friday, the newspaper's publisher Jean-Marie Colombani wrote that Sarkozy's vision of France is more "American" than Royal's, as he favors those at the top of the social pyramid -- and that his denunciation of the May 1968 generation shows a clear wish for "ideological revenge."

If Royal, were to win, writes Colombani, it would give her the authority to push through change in France, and to reinvent the French left. Voting for Royal, he writes, may be a "gamble" -- but it is one "worth taking."

smd/ap

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,481007,00.html

Zarkozy just won-newsflash BBC

Look like Immigration and the economy have swung it to the right in France. The nation,one of the powerhouses of Europe has been slipping away in recent years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6630797.stm

From what I've gathered from an article on the French election by Rich Lowry, only about 41% of the French actually work,

Interesting considering that France only has a 9% unemployment rate.
Given the source you cited was a rightwing website, "nationalreview", I will have to take that with a large grain of salt.

Workforce and social relations

The French government intervenes in workforce relations in two ways:

1. through statutes and regulates issued by the national government, supplemented by a heavy body of jurisprudence;
2. through the enforcement of collective conventions resulting from bargaining between employers' and employees' unions.
The government imposes an hourly minimum wage (SMIC) of 8.27 € (updated every July 1).


Unions and strikes

Membership in France's labour unions accounts for less than 10% of the private sector workforce (in 2003, 8.2% of the workforce[1]) and is concentrated in the education, manufacturing, transportation, and heavy industry sectors. Most unions are affiliated with one of the competing national federations, the largest and most powerful of which are the CGT, FO, and CFDT.

French unions are fairly weak, and strikes are uncommon in most of the economy[2]. Nonetheless, unions are powerful in some parts of the public sector, particularly public transportation (SNCF national railways, RATP Paris transit authority and air traffic control), where strikes have an instant effect on the general public and attract the attention of the national and foreign press.

In the case of the private sector, the weakness of the unions often leads to their calling for the government to intervene in workforce conflicts. Another issue is that unions compete between themselves; this occasionally leads to power struggles in some areas where they are powerful, even degenerating into strikes.

Interesting considering that France only has a 9% unemployment rate.

Unemployment rate and the number of people that actually work are definitely two different things. My wife doesn't work, but neither is she considered unemployed since she's not looking for a job. Having said that, I don't think the work "only" should be used when talking about a 9% unemployment rate. That's terrible.

Unemployment rate and the number of people that actually work are definitely two different things. My wife doesn't work, but neither is she considered unemployed since she's not looking for a job. Having said that, I don't think the work "only" should be used when talking about a 9% unemployment rate. That's terrible.

If 41% of the population of a country were "not working", then the unemployment rate would logically have to be higher than 9%.

That said, I know a lot of people who have jobs but don't work.

hasn't france had a right wing government for like the last 10 years or more?

I agree with Astrapol's comment about Berlusconi.

which brings to mind ... maybe bush can get his next Niger documents from France.

Recent polls show that Sarkozy has the lead in only one age class : 65 years old and over (75% of elderly people voted for him). In every other age category, Sagolene Royal has a small lead. Not enough to counterbalance this massive vote of the retired.

The only positive thing in this election is that Sarkozy seems so terrible we can't be disappointed.

The only positive thing in this election is that Sarkozy seems so terrible we can't be disappointed.

We Americans can relate. ;)

I have to correct what I wrote previously. According to the polls, people aged 60+ and 25-34 majoritarily voted for Sarkozy, while the 18-24 and 45-59 voted mostly for Royal. 35-44 voted 50% for both.

Nor surprinsingly, the wealthiest voted for Sarkozy who promised tax cuts for high incomes, while the less favoured voted for Royal.

I know you disagree with me, Astrapol but I think the better person won.

Royal would just have given France more of the failed welfare state policies of the recent past. At least with the Mad Hungarian France has a chance to break the cycle.

Thats just what France needs... tax cuts for the wealthy....

because they did soooooo much good here... </sarcasm>