Paris:
Results: Francois Hollande (28.56%), Nicolas Sarkozy (27.07%), Le Pen (18.12%), Jean-Luc Melenchon (11%), Francois Bayrou (9.1%).
Francois Hollande of the Soclialist Party and Nicolas Sarkozy, incumbent and candidate of the UMP, have made it through the second round of the French presidential elections. Hollande said in a speech that he was the "best placed" to become the next President of France. Sarkozy said he understood the "suffering" of the French people. Marine Le Pen celebrated her score with her supporters by dancing away under disco lights and said "nothing will be as it was before."
The surprise element was the high score of the far right candidate Marine Le Pen. Shockingly, one out of five French voters has supported Le Pen whose agenda is anti-immigrant, xenophobic and anti-Europe. Marine scored even better than her father in the 2002 elections. Jean Marie Le Pen had shocked France by making it to the second round of votes along with Jacques Chirac who beat him with a big margin in the second round. Quite often, opinion polls are not accurate about far right votes because their electorates do not want to say who they are voting for. Not all Marine Le Pen's voters will vote for Sarkozy. This could mean that in the days to come, we will hear more talk about policies to curb immigration and rein in radical Islam.
Radical left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who was the new star of this election campaign, finished fourth, way behind Marine Le Pen. Centrist Bayrou, who was the star of the last presidential elections in 2007, fared even worse. Melenchon has already called his voters to vote anti-Sarkozy in the final round. Francois Hollande, in his speech after the results, said both Melenchon and Eva Joly of the green party have supported him without expecting any negotiations. This will make Hollande's position strong. Had any of these candidates, both more radical and more left of Hollande, negotiated with him for portfolios or promises, it would have distanced the centrists who are likely to vote for him in the second round. Bayrou at number five, is yet to ask his voters to support one of the two candidates.
The next two weeks will see hectic campaigning by both Hollande and Sarkozy. They will also clash in a televised debate. Sarkozy asked for three debates to be held before the second round but the offer was declined by Hollande's camp who said that traditionally in France, only one debate takes place. Sarkozy is supposed to be a strong debater but Hollande's popularity has also been growing. Both have a couple of weeks to get the maximum number of voters on their side. Almost all opinion polls in France have predicted Hollande will beat Nicolas Sarkozy by more than ten points. If Sarkozy loses, he will become the first president in France in three decades to not get elected to continue for a second term.