France will elect the President tomorrow
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By Reuters
Socialist presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande appealed to French voters to throw out conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and shun the far right in a final push for working-class votes before Sunday’s first round of the election, Reuters writes.
As Sarkozy campaigned in the Mediterranean city of
In the industrial northeast, Hollande spoke of hardships: “This is a region that put its faith in Nicolas Sarkozy, who came here making speeches on industry, jobs, workers. Everybody can see the scale of the disappointment,” he said.
“Now, it’s the Left’s turn to govern the country,” he told a crowd in
Sarkozy faces defeat in part because his pledge was derailed by an economic crisis which drove up jobless claims to a 12-year high. A dislike of his personal manner also weighs against him.
A swathe of final polls published on Friday mostly showed Sarkozy’s support eroding while Hollande’s backing held steady.
At a packed concert hall in Nice, Sarkozy urged a crowd of several thousand to prove the polls wrong. “Don’t let your voice to be stolen – impose your victory, come out en masse on Sunday to cast your votes,” he said.
“The policies we have conducted for the past five years belong to history now and history will decide,” Sarkozy said in a 55-minute speech delivered without notes. “I say that so every French person can make up his mind with all the facts.”
The two rivals are about 10 points ahead of third-ranked Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader, in surveys for Sunday’s first round, with hard leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, the surprise of the campaign, challenging Le Pen for third place.
Sarkozy and Hollande are set to face off in a May 6 decider for which the Socialist has a comfortable lead of between 7 and 14 percentage points.
That would give
The risk premium investors charge for holding French 10-year bonds over German Bunds rose above 1.50 percentage points in a possible foretaste of market jitters over an Hollande victory.
Traders think he may face pressure to go beyond his centre-left programme if a resurgent hard left makes gains in June parliamentary elections and possibly holds the balance of power.
For many ordinary voters, the election is a choice between two styles of leadership. “He’s (Sarkozy) too arrogant, too sure of himself. Flaunting his wealth when people are unemployed,” said Rene Taze, a middle-aged engraver eating lunch in a