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The World is watching the preparations and tactics before the elections in France.
Some reporters are expecting a surprise. Faxts Life believes that France is a conservative country that will take a predictable course.

Issues such as crime and immigration will be as important as style and charm.

22 April

Paris: The two favourites in the French Presidential race will meet in a run-off, according to early results.

Centre-right Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal have emerged as the two top contenders after the first batch of results were declared in France on Sunday evening (2am UAE time).

The other two main Presidential hopefuls Francois Bayrou and the far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen may have attracted less than 30% of the vote between them according to exit polls.

Turnout for the French elections has been very high, with an estimated 85 per cent of the eligible population casting their vote.

After the final results of the first round of voting are declared, campaigning will begin again for the remaining two contenders.

A second vote will be held on May 6, with the next French President being announced on May 10.

Royal is hoping to become France's first woman president but trailed Sarkozy throughout the campaign.

French Presidential Election from Wikipedia

The 2007 French presidential election will be held to elect a president of France for a five year term. The first round of voting will take place on Sunday, 22 April 2007. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, a second round between the two leading candidates will take place on Sunday, 6 May 2007. This will be the ninth presidential election of the Fifth French Republic.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Schedule for the election

[edit] Results

[discuss] – [edit]
To come: Summary of the 22 April and 6 May 2007 French presidential election results
Order of candidates as decided by the Constitutional Council of France by randomization:
Candidates Nominating parties Votes 1st round % Votes 2nd round %
Olivier Besancenot Revolutionary Communist League (Ligue communiste révolutionnaire)



Marie-George Buffet Popular and anti-liberal Left, supported by the French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)


Gérard Schivardi Workers' Party (Parti des travailleurs)


François Bayrou Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française)

José Bové Alter-globalization activist

Dominique Voynet The Greens (Les Verts)

Philippe de Villiers Movement for France (Mouvement pour la France)

Ségolène Royal Socialist Party (Parti socialiste)

Frédéric Nihous Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition (Chasse, pêche, nature, traditions)

Jean-Marie Le Pen National Front (Front national)

Arlette Laguiller Workers' Struggle (Lutte ouvrière)

Nicolas Sarkozy Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire)






Source: Decision of March 19, 2007, of the Constitutional Council.

[edit] Requirements to be a candidate for the Presidency

Reference: Constitutional Council, FAQ

The requirements for being a candidate are defined by the organic law of 6 November 1962.

All candidates must be of French nationality and at least 23 years old (the same requirement as for the candidates to the National Assembly).

Candidates must obtain signatures from 500 elected officials (e.g. mayors and members of the Parliament) supporting their candidacy. These signatures from elected officials (informally known in French as parrainages, but legally known as "presentations") must be from at least 30 different departments or overseas territories and no more than 10 percent can be from any individual department. A presentation from an elected official does not imply that this official supports the policies of the candidate, but rather that this official considers the candidate to be a serious candidate.

Candidates must also submit a statement with details of their personal assets.

The Constitutional Council published the official candidate list on 20 March 2007. The candidates are listed in a randomized order. This order will be used for the official campaign: thus, posters for Olivier Besancenot will always be on the #1 board, those for Marie-George Buffet on the #2 board, etc., regardless of where in France the boards are located.

[edit] Candidates

Official posters for the first round of vote near a polling station in rural France.
Official posters for the first round of vote near a polling station in rural France.

There are a total of 12 candidates for the 2007 election.[3]

[edit] Leading candidates

These are candidates who are consistently registering over 10% in the opinion polls and are regarded as having at least a chance to reach the second round.[4]

François Bayrou of the Union for French Democracy

Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front

Ségolène Royal of the Socialist Party

Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement

[edit] Other candidates

These are non leading candidates who have obtained 500 signatures from elected officials to endorse their candidacy.

Olivier Besancenot

José Bové

Marie-George Buffet

Arlette Laguiller

Frédéric Nihous

Gérard Schivardi

Philippe de Villiers

Dominique Voynet

[edit] Confirmed non-candidates

  • Current president Jacques Chirac announced on 11 March 2007 that he would not be standing for another term as president. It had been rumoured that President Chirac was considering running for a third term, following recent statements, including his New Year's Address on 31 December 2006, and subsequent speeches which contained robust comments on international policy and detailed national policy proposals with a suggested five year timetable.[3] In March, Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy.[8]. There is no provision in the Constitution of 1958 specifying a limited number of terms, though a third term would have been unprecedented under the Fifth Republic.
  • Christine Boutin announced that she would not be a candidate for the election and pledged her support for Nicolas Sarkozy (source: France 2 news, 2 December 2006).
  • Rachid Kaci, member of the UMP and President of the group Free Right (la Droite Libre), announced his withdrawal as candidate and also pledged to support Nicolas Sarkozy on 21 December 2006 during a UMP public Forum.
  • MRC chairman Jean-Pierre Chevènement announced on 10 December 2006 that he would not be running, and that his movement would back Ségolène Royal in return for an electoral agreement in the 2007 general election.
  • Candidate for the Radical Party, Christiane Taubira in the 2002 election, confirmed that she would not be running following an electoral agreement between her party and the Socialist Party. The Radical Left in return will support Ségolène Royal.
  • Nicolas Hulot, television presenter and environmental activist, was widely considered to be a possible candidate following the positive media and public reaction to his recent book and Environmental Charter. On 3 January 2007 Le Figaro newspaper reported that supporters of Hulot had begun gathering signatures to mount a campaign and a website, [4], was created to generate support. On 22 January he announced that he will not be a candidate.
  • Corinne Lepage, environmentalist politician and activist, withdrew her candidacy in favour of Bayrou on 10 March 2007.[9]
  • Roland Castro, architect and "utopian left" activist, withdrew his candidacy on 12 March 2007.
  • Édouard Fillias: Alternative Libérale, a new French libertarian party, withdrew his candidacy on 13 March 2007 in favour of Bayrou.[10]
  • Antoine Waechter: Independent Ecological Movement, withdrew his candidacy on 14 March 2007

[edit] Did not get enough endorsements

[edit] Issues facing France in the 2007 presidential election

The election raises a number of issues:

  • The Far Right — The National Front, long dismissed as a fringe party, stunned many when its leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, reached the second round of the 2002 elections. Le Pen's points of focus — law and order and immigration — are now openly taken up by politicians such as Nicolas Sarkozy. Ironically, Le Pen on 12 April criticised Sarkozy for being Hungarian and asked if he should run for the president of Hungary [5][6]. Le Pen is 79 years old, the same age which De Gaulle was when he stepped down from the presidency in 1969. His approval rating in opinion polls markedly increased after France's riots in 2005. As a counterpose, the Left and the cultural elite and athletics (like Lilian Thuram) have risen to oppose Sarkozy's response to the riots.
  • Disarray of left-wing parties — During the 2002 presidential elections, a number of left-wing candidates ran for office, which, according to commentators, was one reason for the defeat of Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin. Since then, the Left has been split between a "mainstream" left, represented by the French Socialist Party, which accepts the capitalist economy, and some parties and groups further to the left that question or reject the capitalist economy.
  • Jobs and unemployment — France has long had an unemployment rate close to 10 percent. Employment, and employment conditions, are a perennial concern for the French.
  • High-level political scandals and disrepute — A number of scandals have tainted various French politicians, including president Jacques Chirac, with some, such as former prime minister Alain Juppé, being convicted. The recent Clearstream affair was exposed as a sordid case of forgery and denunciations involving major politicians from the ruling UMP coalition.
  • Europe and far-left — The victory of the "No" during the referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in 2005 hasn't been exploited yet by the left parties or organisations which supported it. The main topic of the far-left was to try to choose a single candidate for the "anti-liberal" Left; this eventually failed, and the far-left was represented by four competing candidates.
  • Law and order — During the 2002 campaign, law and order came to the forefront, especially with respect to unruly youths from poor suburbs. In late 2005, in some of these suburbs significant unrest erupted. Again, law and order will be a forefront issue, with mainstream candidates tackling the problem of reining in unruly youngsters. Already, right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed measures to change criminal procedure for youngsters, while left-wing candidate Ségolène Royal has proposed to send unruly youths to centres under military discipline.[11]
  • Environment — The ecologist party, the Greens, are low in the polls, but Nicolas Hulot, a presenter of an environmentally-themed television show, is very popular and had considered running. Many parties, from the left to the right, are interested in his support.

[edit] Legal issues and freedom of speech

Official campaign posters of candidates regularly get vandalized
Official campaign posters of candidates regularly get vandalized
Some French cities will use voting machines
Some French cities will use voting machines

Apart from issues related to TV and radio time regulated by the broadcasting authorities during the two-week "official campaign", other legal issues related to freedom of speech of candidates appeared during the month before the first round.

  • Proeminent political commentator Alain Duhamel was suspended in 2006 after a video was published on DailyMotion, where he stated his personal intentions of voting for François Bayrou.
  • Candidate Gérard Schivardi was banned from calling himself le candidat des maires (the candidate of the mayors). The 2 April 2007 judicial injunction[12] was requested by the Association of French Mayors, who feared that the candidate might be perceived as officially endorsed by French mayors. As a result, he is unable to use the 25 million electoral flyers already printed, which he claims will cost his campaign €300,000.[13]
  • Using the three colours of the national flag (blue, white, and red) on electoral advertisements or partisan documentation is prohibited by electoral regulations.[14]. Ségolène Royal contends that the book Ensemble ("together") published by Nicolas Sarkozy, whose cover is blue, white and red,[15] is effectively an electoral partisan documentation and should be covered by this prohibition.[16]
  • François Bayrou proposed the idea of organising a "debate over the Internet" between the four leading candidates, in order to circumvent the obligation of TV and radio channels to provide equal times to all twelve candidates. However, Nicolas Sarkozy is opposed to such a debate because he considers that it would be illegal.[17]
  • French law prohibits publishing the results of opinion polls related to the election during the day of the election and the preceding day, so as to prevent undue influencing of the vote.[18] No estimate can be given before Sunday 8PM, when the last voting office closes and official counts begin to be released. However, media from neighbouring countries, which are not bound by these regulations, have long broadcasted estimations (the Télévision Suisse Romande in particular). In 2007, the issue took a particular importance because of the generalisation of blogs and Internet pages. Journalist Jean-Marc Morandini stirred turmoil when he announced his intention of publishing results on his blog as soon as 18h00 [7].

[edit] Opinion polling

<
Polling Firm Date Source Sarkozy Royal Bayrou Le Pen Others Second round
Ipsos 21 April 2007 [8] 30 23.5 17 13.5 16 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52.5 Sarkozy 47.5
CSA 20 April 2007 [9] 26.5 25.5 16 16.5 15.5 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ifop 20 April 2007 [10] 28 22.5 20 13 16.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45, Bayrou 58 Royal 42
Ipsos 20 April 2007 [11] 30 23 18 13 16 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
TNS-Sofres 19 April 2007 [12] 28 24 19.5 14 14.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46
BVA 19 April 2007 [13] 29 25 15 13 18 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 19 April 2007 [14] 30 23.5 18.5 13 15 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
Ifop 18 April 2007 [15] 28 22.5 19 12.5 18 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 18 April 2007 [16] 28.5 25 19 14 13.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 18 April 2007 [17] 29.5 24.5 18.5 13.5 14 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
CSA 17 April 2007 [18] 27 25 19 15.5 13.5 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ipsos 17 April 2007 [19] 28.5 25 18.5 14 14 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46
Louis-Harris 16 April 2007 [20] 27 23 19 14 17 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
CSA 15 April 2007 [21] 26 23 21 15 15 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 15 April 2007 [22] 29.5 25 17.5 13.5 14.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
Ifop 15 April 2007 [23] 28.5 24 18 13 16.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 14 April 2007 [24] 30 26 17 12 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 14 April 2007 [25] 29.5 24.5 17.5 14 14.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
Ipsos 13 April 2007 [26] 30 24 18.5 13.5 14 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
CSA 12 April 2007 [27] 27 25 19 15 14 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 12 April 2007 [28] 29.5 24 19 14 13.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
BVA 12 April 2007 [29] 28 24 18 14 16 Sarkozy 55 Royal 45
Ipsos 11 April 2007 [30] 30 23.5 19 13.5 14 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
Ipsos 10 April 2007 [31] 30.5 23 19.5 13 14 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
Louis-Harris 09 April 2007 [32] 28 24 18 15 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 08 April 2007 [33] 29.5 22 19 14 15.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 08 April 2007 [34] 30.5 22.5 19.5 13 14.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
Ipsos 07 April 2007 [35] 31.5 23.5 19 12.5 13.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
CSA 06 April 2007 [36] 26 23.5 21 16 13.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 06 April 2007 [37] 31 24 18.5 13 13.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5
BVA 05 April 2007 [38] 29.5 24 18 12 16.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 05 April 2007 [39] 31.5 24.5 18.5 13 12.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Ifop 04 April 2007 [40] 27.5 23 20 14 15.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 04 April 2007 [41] 31.5 25 18.5 13 12 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Ipsos 03 April 2007 [42] 31.5 24 19 13.5 12 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Louis-Harris 02 April 2007 [43] 29 26 18 13 14 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 01 April 2007 [44] 31 24.5 19 13 12.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
Ipsos 31 March 2007 [45] 32 24 18.5 12 13.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5
Ifop 31 March 2007 [46] 28 23 21 13.5 14.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
TNS-Sofres 30 March 2007 [47] 30 27 18 12 13 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
CSA 30 March 2007 [48] 26 24.5 19.5 15 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 30 March 2007 [49] 31.5 25 17.5 12 14 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Ipsos 29 March 2007 [50] 31 24.5 18 12.5 14 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5
BVA 27 March 2007 [51] 28 27 20 12 13 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 27 March 2007 [52] 30.5 25 18.5 13 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
Louis-Harris 24 March 2007 [53] 27 27 20 12 14 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 60 Sarkozy 40
Ipsos 24 March 2007 [54] 30 25.5 19 13.5 12 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
Ifop 23 March 2007 [55] 26 25 22 14.5 12.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
TNS-Sofres 23 March 2007 [56] 28 26.5 21.5 11 13 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
CSA 22 March 2007 [57] 26 26 21 13 14 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
BVA 20 March 2007 [58] 31 24 17 13 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ifop 19 March 2007 [59] 28 24 21 14 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46
Louis-Harris 17 March 2007 [60] 29 26 22 12.5 10.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 57 Sarkozy 43
Ipsos 17 March 2007 [61] 29.5 25 21 12.5 12 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 17 March 2007 [62] 26 24 22.5 14 13.5 Sarkozy 51.5 Royal 48.5
TNS-Sofres 15 March 2007 [63] 31 24 22 12 11 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 60 Royal 40
CSA 14 March 2007 [64] 27 26 21 14 12 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 14 March 2007 [65] 28.5 24 23 13.5 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
BVA 13 March 2007 [66] 29 23 21 13 14 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45
Louis-Harris 10 March 2007 [67] 28 26 22 13.5 10.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45
Ipsos 10 March 2007 [68] 31 25.5 21.5 12.5 9.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5
Ifop 9 March 2007 [69] 28 23 23 13 13
TNS-Sofres 8 March 2007 [70] 27 25.5 23 12 12 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
CSA 7 March 2007 [71] 26 25 24 14 11 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 7 March 2007 [72] 32.5 27 19 12.5 9 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
BVA 6 March 2007 [73] 29 24 21 13 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45
Louis-Harris 3 March 2007 [74] 28 27 20 14 11 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
TNS-Sofres 1 March 2007 [75] 31 25.5 18.5 12 13 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 28 February 2007 [76] 32 25 18 12.5 10 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5
CSA 28 February 2007 [77] 29 29 17 14 11 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
BVA 27 February 2007 [78] 31 25 17 14 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 55 Royal 45
Louis-Harris 24 February 2007 [79] 30 27 17 13 13 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ifop 23 February 2007 [80] 28 28 17 11.5 15.5 Sarkozy 50.5 Royal 49.5
BVA 20 February 2007 [81] 33 26 15 10 16 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 52 Royal 48
CSA 20 February 2007 [82] 28 29 17 14 13 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Louis-Harris 17 February 2007 [83] 33 25.5 14 13 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 17 February 2007 [84] 33 23 16 13 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ifop 15 February 2007 [85] 32 25.5 16 11 15.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 15 February 2007 [86] 33 26 12 13 16 Sarkozy 55 Royal 45
CSA 12 February 2007 [87] 33 26 12 14 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
BVA 12 February 2007 [88] 35 29 14 10 12 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 12 February 2007 [89] 34 27 14 13 12 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ifop 12 February 2007 [90] 33.5 26 14 10 16.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Louis-Harris 10 February 2007 [91] 31 27 13 12 17 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Louis-Harris 3 February 2007 [92] 33 27 13 9 18 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 3 February 2007 [93] 34 27 13 11 15 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 1 February 2007 [94] 32 26 13 12.5 18.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
CSA 31 January 2007 [95] 31 27 12 16 14 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 27 January 2007 [96] 35 26 11 11 17 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Louis-Harris 27 January 2007 [97] 31 29 14 10 15.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
BVA 23 January 2007 [98] 33 27 13 10 17 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 20 January 2007 [99] 32 29 11 13 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 20 January 2007 [100] 32.5 28 12.5 11 16 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
CSA 17 January 2007 [101] 30 29 9 15 17 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 15 January 2007 [102] 33 28 12 10 17 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 7 January 2007 [103] 33 32 10 12 13 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ifop 5 January 2007 [104] 25 27 10 12 25.5 Royal 50.5 Sarkozy 49.5
CSA 3 January 2007 [105] 32 34 6 15 13 Royal 52 Sarkozy 48
Ifop 15 December 2006 [106] 29 31 8 11 21 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
BVA 12 December 2006 [107] 32 35 8 9 16 Royal 51 Sarkozy 49
Ipsos 9 December 2006 [108] 34 32 9 11.5 13.5 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ipsos 2 December 2006 [109] 35 31 8 12.5 14.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ifop 1 December 2006 [110] 30 31 9 12 18 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50