Monday, May 7, 2012

French voters on Sunday for President runoff

French voters on Sunday for President runoff

French voters are soon to cast their ballots in Sunday’s presidential runoff between incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist front-runner Francois Hollande.The first round of voting last month, the opposition leader, Hollande, won a lead over Sarkozy.The main focus of the election has been measures taken to deal with the continuing credit worries in Europe. Sarkozy has emphasized his achievements in working with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to draw up an EU treaty designed to tighten fiscal discipline among EU members.Hollande has criticized the austerity measures included in the EU treaty saying they could further slow down the bloc’s economy.
The Socialist leader promised in his election pledges to renegotiate with other EU members to add measures to the treaty that encourage economic growth.Hollande kept a lead over Sarkozy throughout the campaigning that ended on Friday. About 53 percent of people in the latest opinion polls said they will vote for Hollande in the runoff. On Hollande wins, France will have its first Socialist president in 17 years.The runoff election will take place on Sunday, but residents of some overseas departments have already begun voting due to time differences. The first four polling stations opened on the island of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located to the west of Canada. There are a total of 4,900 registered voters.
Residents of French Guiana which is situated in South America, the islands of the Caribbean: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy and the French side of the island of St. Maarten, and French Polynesia will vote on Saturday.
The results of voting in the overseas departments and abroad, according to the law, will be announced on Sunday evening when the last polling stations in France proper close.
Hollande will wait for the announcement of election results in his native city Tulle. Sarkozy will be in Paris and is expected to deliver a speech to his supporters and journalists at the election headquarters after the name of the winner is known.
Socialist Francois Hollande is leading in the latest French opinion polls, with 52.5-53.5 percent of voters saying they intend to vote for him.Hollande's base in the town of Tulle said that there seemed to be a sense of certainty there that Hollande would win the election.
"They're pretty much  when you look around and talk to people  convinced that he's set to be the next president of France," said Andrew Simmons.Media agencies

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