Hollande,Sarkozy to go to runoff on May 6th

by sagarmedia With 99.9 percent of ballots counted, socialist Francois Hollande has 28.61 percent of the vote, while his main rival conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy comes second with 27.08 percent, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.The turnout was about 80%, one of the highest results in the history of the Fifth Republic, founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1958.
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen came third with 18.05 percent, beating far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who scored 11.12 percent. Centrist Francois Bayrou was fifth with 9.11 percent.The five other candidates received minimal support of 2 percent or less.French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said no major incidents were reported during Sunday’s vote.France’s presidential election, Francois Hollande of the largest opposition group the Socialist Party, and incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy of the center-right UMP Party, will contest a run-off election on May 6th.
Voters in France finished casting their ballots in the presidential election at 8 PM on Sunday.Interior Ministry said that with 79-percent of the vote counted Francois Hollande was leading the race with 28- percent of the vote, followed by incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy with 26.9-percent and far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen with 19-percent.
None of the candidates are likely to win a majority in the first round and the two top candidates are expected to proceed to the runoff.Although there are 10 candidates, the election is virtually a one-on-one battle between the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande.
The main focus of the election has been measures taken to deal with the continuing credit worries plaguing Europe.Sarkozy is fighting a tough battle because of his unpopular austerity policies and a sluggish economy. Hollande is winning support with policies that focus on economic growth and expanding employment opportunities. He also wants to review an EU treaty that strengthens fiscal discipline. Hollande was slightly ahead of Sarkozy in the first round and maintains a 10-point lead ahead of next month’s run-off.