2007 French presidential election

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File:French presidential elections 2007 Paris Place dItalie 12 candidates.jpg
The official campaign: the posters for the 12 candidates
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The 2007 French presidential election represents generational change and is being held to elect the successor of incumbent Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term. The next president will be the first born after World War II[1] and the first not to have been in politics under Charles de Gaulle. The first round of voting took place on Sunday, 22 April 2007. As no candidate obtained an absolute majority, a second round between the two leading candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal, will take place on Sunday, 6 May 2007. This is the ninth presidential election of the Fifth French Republic.

The first round saw a very high turnout of 85% — 37.6 million of the 44 million electorate voted (from a population of 64 million).[2][3][4] The results of the first round saw Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal qualify for the second round with Sarkozy getting 31% and Royal 26%. François Bayrou came third (19%) and Jean-Marie Le Pen fourth (10%).[5]

Immediately after the first round's results were official, four defeated left-wing candidates — José Bové, Marie-George Buffet, Arlette Laguiller and Dominique Voynet — urged their supporters to vote for Royal.[6] This was the first time since 1981 for Laguiller to call for a vote for the Socialist Party.[7] Olivier Besancenot called his supporters to vote against Sarkozy.[8] Nihous and Schivardi have not yet officially supported either Royal or Sarkozy. De Villiers called for a vote for Sarkozy.[9] Le Pen told his voters to "abstain massively" in the second round.[10]

On April 25, Bayrou declared he would not support either candidate in the runoff [11], and announced he would form a new French political party called the Democratic Party. He criticized both major candidates, and offered to debate them. Royal agreed to hold a non-televised debate, while Sarkozy offered to have a private discussion but not a televised debate.[12]

Results first round and analysis

Template:French presidential election, 2007, Sources for electoral results: Elections 2007 on Libération's website and Elections on the evening newspaper Le Monde's website. Official results announced on April 25.

Results of the first round: the candidate with the plurality of votes in each administrative division. Sarkozy: light blue; Royal: red; Bayrou: yellow

On the national level, Nicolas Sarkozy obtained 31.18% and Ségolène Royal 25.87% — while in 2002, Jacques Chirac had obtained 19.88%, and Lionel Jospin 16.8%. The right-of-center François Bayrou obtained 18.57% this time, tripling his 2002 result (6.84%). National Front (FN) candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, made only 10.44%, compared to his stunning 16.86% finish in 2002. Along with the April-May shift to the far right made by Sarkozy, this has led many commentators to allege that traditional voters of the FN had been tempted by Sarkozy [13][14]. On a global scale, the left-wing reached 36% of the votes, against 18.5% for the ill-defined "center", 33% for the right wing and 10.6% for the far right.

Other candidates made a much lower score than in 2002, with Olivier Besancenot (Revolutionary Communist League, LCR) failing to achieve the 5% necessary to have the political campaign reimbursed by the state. Besancenot got only 4.11%, compared to 4.25% in 2002. He is followed by the traditionalist aristocrat Philippe de Villiers (2.24%), Communist Marie-George Buffet (1.94%, compared to 3.37% for Robert Hue in 2002), Greens candidate Dominique Voynet (1.57%, compared to 5.25% for Noël Mamère in 2002), Workers' Struggle's candidate Arlette Laguiller (1.34%, compared to 5.72% in 2002), alter-globalization candidate José Bové (1.32%), Frédéric Nihous (1.15% , against 4.23% for Jean Saint-Josse in 2002) and finally Gérard Schivardi with 0.34% (Daniel Gluckstein had achieved 0.47% in 2002). The abstention rate was 15.40%.

With an overall record-rate of participation of 84.6%, a level not achieved since the 1965 presidential election (84.8% participation), the vast majority of French citizens decided not to stay home. Most of them decided against protest votes, and chose the vote utile (tactical voting, literally "useful vote"), that is, a vote for one of the purported leaders of the electoral race (Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal and/or François Bayrou). The "Anyone But Sarkozy" push benefited both Bayrou and Royal,[citation needed] while the tactical voting, on the right or on the left, explains the low score of the other candidates, apparently in contrast with the last presidential election's first round.[citation needed]

The electoral campaign saw a polarization of the political scene, encapsulated by the "Anyone But Sarkozy" slogan on the left. But it also saw a reconfiguration of the political chessboard, with various left-wing figures and voters deciding to support Sarkozy against Royal, who saw opposition inside her own party. Bernard Tapie, a former Socialist, Max Gallo, who had supported left-wing Republican Jean-Pierre Chevènement in 2002, Eric Besson [15], etc., passed on Sarkozy's side. On the other hand, some right-wing voters, upset by Sarkozy's attitude on law and order, immigration, and even genetics (his recent declarations on pedophilia, homosexuality and suicides as genetically induced, denounced by the geneticist Axel Kahn [16][17][18][19][20]), decided to vote for Bayrou. Centrist figures of the Socialist party, such as Michel Rocard and Bernard Kouchner, have called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal, which might have consequences in the June 2007 legislative elections — these will determine the parliamentary majority, and decide if France will, or not, see another cohabitation between the President, head of state, and the Prime minister, leader of the government. Former socialist minister Claude Allègre stated such an alliance was "entirely conceivable," while Royal herself strongly criticized Rocard's comments. François Hollande, the national secretary of the Socialist Party and Ségolène Royal's partner, excluded any alliance with the center-right, along with others left-wing leaders, such as Laurent Fabius or Dominique Voynet [21].

Urban votes

Inside of a voting booth.

On an urban level, most lower middle-class (working class) and middle-class neighborhoods and cities have voted in majority for Ségolène Royal, against Sarkozy. Thus, in the Xe arrondissement of Paris, Royal obtained 41.99% against 25.03% for Sarkozy, and 20.35% for Bayrou. In the XIe arrondissement, Royal obtained more than 40.81% against 25.80% for Sarkozy and 20.86% for Bayrou. In the XVIIIe arrondissement, Royal obtained 41.1% against 23.44% for Sarkozy. In the XIXe arrondissement, Royal obtained more than 39%, against almost 28% for Sarkozy. And in the XXe arrondissement, Royal obtained 42.41% against 23.16% for Sarkozy, and 18.30% for Bayrou. Royal also beat Sarkozy in Bordeaux (31.37% against 30.84%, and 22% for Bayrou — Bordeaux is usually rather conservative); in Brest, in Caen, in Clermont-Ferrand, in Grenoble, in Nantes, in Rouen, in Lille, in Le Mans, in Montpellier, in Saint-Etienne, in Limoges, in Amiens, in Pau (where Bayrou comes up first), in Rennes and in Toulouse (historical base of the former Radical-Socialist Party). The Paris suburbs (les banlieues, some of which are wealthy and others working class), at least the working class suburbs, also massively voted for Royal. This was more or less expected, in particular with the high level of registration on the electoral lists by the youth, which has been strongly opposed to Sarkozy since his disparaging remarks on them which were thought to be one of the cause of the 2005 riots, while a large part of the student population had participated to the protests against the CPE in the spring of 2006. Thus, Royal came up first in Nanterre, with almost 36% against 23% for Sarkozy. She reached 41.57% in Saint-Denis, against 19.56% for Sarkozy and 15.47% for Bayrou. In Evry, she also passed the 40% line, while Sarkozy made only 23.56%. In Créteil, both opponents are closer, with 35% for Royal and 30% for Sarkozy (18% for Bayrou). In the popular department of Seine-Saint-Denis, she obtained 34.17% against 26.78% for Sarkozy and 16.70% for Bayrou.

In contrast, wealthy arrondissements of Paris voted for Sarkozy. The very posh XVIe arrondissement voted at 64% for him, against only 11.27% for Royal and 16.43% for Bayrou. The VIIe arrondissement voted for 55.98% in favour of Sarkozy, with only 15.35% for Royal and 20.35% for Bayrou. The VIIIe arrondissement voted at more than 58% for Sarkozy, and only 14% for Royal (18.65% for Bayrou). The XVe arrondissement voted at 41.48% for Sarkozy, against 24.31% for Royal and 22.93% for Bayrou. The mostly wealthy Paris suburbs of the Hauts-de-Seine (although they are contrasted zones), home of Neuilly-sur-Seine where Sarkozy is mayor, voted at 38.26% for him, against 25.97% for Royal and 21.30% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also won in the Essonne (more than 31% against 27% for Royal), in the Seine-et-Marne (33.5% against almost 24% for Royal) as well as in the Yvelines (37.7% against more than 23% for Royal and almost 22.0 for Bayrou).

The wealthy city of Aix-en-Provence also voted for Sarkozy, with 36.78% against 25.36% for Royal and 19.78% for Bayrou. The second city of France, Marseille voted in majority for Sarkozy, with 34.25% against 27.11% for Royal and only 14.10% for Bayrou, a score under the national average (making him a close third before Le Pen, who obtained 13.43%). However, in working-class neighborhoods of the North of Marseille, such as Savine (XVe arrondissement) or the Busserine (XIVe arrondissement), Royal came up first by far (60% in Busserine).

In Nice, bastion of the right-wing, Sarkozy obtained more than 41% against 20.42% for Royal and less than 15% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also closely beat Royal in the industrial port of Le Havre (28.96% against 26.77%), as well as in Avignon, Nîmes, Metz, Nancy, Strasbourg (these last three cities belonging to the Alsace-Lorraine region), Lyon, the third largest city of France (34.46% against 27.29% for Royal and 22.0% for Bayrou).

Regional votes

A map of France's departments shows the candidate of the Socialist Party, Ségolène Royal, came first in the South-West and the Massif Central, which were traditional bases of the Radical-Socialist Party during the Third Republic. She also topped the poll in Bretagne, except in the Morbihan, but a fifth of electors in Brittany voted for Bayrou. [22] The Nièvre and the Seine-Saint-Denis are also departments where she came first, as well as the Martinique, Réunion and Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Sarkozy came first everywhere else, except for the Pyrénées-Atlantiques where Bayrou topped the poll in the department of his birth.

The left regressed in contrast with 2002 in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, a traditional socialist and communist region. The Nord department, hit hard during the 1980s by the industrial crisis, voted in favour of Sarkozy (29.30%) although Bayrou obtained 15.64% and Royal 24.83% — the latter coming first in Lille. Marie-George Buffet passed with difficulty above 5% in the constituency of the Communist deputy Alain Bocquet.

The Haute-Garonne, traditional Radical-Socialist territory, voted, as its capital Toulouse, for Ségolène Royal, with 33%, against less than 27% for Sarkozy and slightly more than 19% for Bayrou. The Corrèze, where Jacques Chirac started his career as deputy of Ussel, also voted slightly in in favour of Royal, as did the Creuse, one of the least densely populated departments of France.

The Alpes-Maritimes, part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region where the National Front won several cities in the 1990s (Toulon, Marignane and Orange in the Vaucluse) voted for Sarkozy at 43.59%, with Royal achieving only 17.90%, Bayrou 15.03%, and Jean-Marie Le Pen 13.47%. The Vaucluse department gave 32.83% of its votes to Sarkozy, 20.94% to Royal, 15.46% to Bayrou and 16.78% to Le Pen.

The Vendée, home of the Chouans during the French Revolution, voted 29.72% for Sarkozy, 21.68% for Royal, 20.77% for Bayrou, and 11.28% for Philippe de Villiers, deputy of this department (Le Pen only managed 6.46%).

Le Pen's highest regional score was made in the Haute-Marne with 17% and the Aine with 17.28%. Other regions which gave him more than 15% include the Gard (15.44%) Vosges (15.66%), the Corse-du-Sud (15.91%), the Oise (15.94%), the Pas-de-Calais (16.02%), the Ardennes (16.20% — far-left candidate Besancenot made 5.35% there), the Meuse (16.32%), the Haute-Saône (16.48%) and the Vaucluse (16.78%).

Arlette Laguiller obtained a surprising 11.15% in the atypical[dubious – discuss] Ariège mountaineous department, where Le Pen obtained only 9.72%, Sarkozy 21.91% and Bayrou 15.74%. This traditionally left-wing department remained so, with 35% of the votes to Royal, 1.52% to Voynet (national average), 3.01% to Buffet (national average 1.94%), 2.67% to Bové (twice his national average), 5.07% to Besancenot and 0,72% to Schivardi. This gives a total of 59.14% for the left-wing candidates, and only 47.34% for the right-wing (including the right-of-center Bayrou, who recently positioned himself more to the center).

Departments where Besancenot obtained more than 5% include the Ardennes, the Aisne (in both Le Pen also achieved high results), the Ariège (which voted by a vast majority for the left), the Allier (where Sarkozy obtained 28% against nearly 26% for Royal), the Calvados (where Sarkozy arrived first with 29% against 25% for Royal), the Finistère, the Cher, the Côtes d'Armor, the Creuse, the Indre, the Meurthe-et-Moselle, the Nord, the Meuse, the Moselle, the Pas-de-Calais (6.21%), the Sarthe, the Nièvre, the Puy-de-Dôme, the Somme, the Territoire-de-Belfort, the Seine-Maritime in the Ile-de-France region (Paris), the Haute-Vienne and the oversea collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (6.51%, and 5.13% for José Bové; only 6.70% for Le Pen and Royal leading).

The Martinique oversea department, strongly opposed to Sarkozy as shown by the refusal of Aimé Césaire, mayor of Fort-de-France and leader of the Négritude movement, to see him during his visit there in December 2005 (due to the UMP vote of the February 23, 2005 law on colonialism [23]) voted massively for Ségolène Royal (48.49%, against 33.76% for Sarkozy and only 8.62% for Bayrou — the highest score among others candidates was achieved by Besancenot with 2.54%). Réunion also voted at 46.23% for Royal against 25% for Sarkozy and 13% for Bayrou. To the contrary, Sarkozy won in New Caledonia (49.74%) aind in Guadeloupe (42.63% against 38.27% for Royal), as well as in Wallis and Futuna and in Guyana.

Electoral issues

The election raises a number of issues:

  • 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 (see Economics in France and Poverty in France).
  • European disunity — This French presidential election follows the EU Constitution rejection vote in 2005, which has thrown into question the future direction of the European Union.
  • International politics - The majority of French citizens approved President Jacques Chirac's opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States. Sarkozy is considered as pro-Washington, while Royal, although seen as probably also in line with Washington, is thought to be more moderate. Left-wing intellectual Régis Debray put that into words by saying that Sarkozy was like a direct flight to Washington D.C., while Royal was a flight to Washington with a stop in Oslo, thus showing her European inclinations [24]. Chirac's public opposition to the Iraq War should however be relativised, as he toned down his criticisms after a while. Furthermore, he has involved French troops in Afghanistan and agreed, immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks, on increased cooperation between Western intelligence services, materialised by the creation of Alliance Base in the center of Paris, a joint international Counterterrorist Intelligence Center.
  • 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 for harsher criminal procedure for youngsters, while left-wing candidate Ségolène Royal has proposed to send unruly youths to centres under military discipline. [25] Sarkozy's attitude has been widely criticized on the left, and also by the UMP minister Azouz Begag, who defected his party to support Bayrou following Sarkozy's management of the autumn 2005 crisis [26].
  • Immigration. The issue of immigration in France has split France. The number of deportations more than doubled since 2002, with Sarkozy as Minister of the Interior from 2002 to 2004 and 2005 to 2007 [27]. Sarkozy declared in April 2006 that immigrants who did not "like France" should "leave it" [14]. Opponents have labelled Sarkozy's attitude as repressive, in particular towards illegal aliens [28][29], materialised by numerous police raids against illegal aliens, strongly opposed by the left [30]. The main problem concerns illegal aliens (sans-papiers, litt.: "without documents") who cannot obtain work permits without proper immigration documents and are therefore mostly found in the informal economy (construction, restaurants, etc.). Although the right of foreigners to vote was a classic claim of the left-wing, it has not been an important issue of the campaign. On the other hand, Sarkozy has declared himself in favour of affirmative action which has been widely contested both on the left and on the right, on grounds that it would favour communautarisme (separation of communities) along ethnic lines, and that it means taking into account ethnic alleged memberships in statistics, which is legally prohibited and not done by the INSEE. Left-wings argued in favour of social actions not based on ethnic factors, but on geographical situation and equality of territory; however, the traditional Universalism of the French Republicans has also been criticised on the left-wing by some intellectuals supporting a middle-ground between Republican universalism and multiculturalism [31].
  • 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 [4] [5]. 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 counterweight, the Left and the cultural elite and athletes (like Lilian Thuram) have risen to oppose Sarkozy's response to the riots.
  • Anti-neoliberalism and 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. Jospin blamed in particular Jean-Pierre Chevènement's candidacy, as well as Christiane Taubira's one. However, others commentators have criticized Jospin's attitude and the policies of the PS, which account, according to them, for the low score of Jospin. Inheritor of the SFIO, the PS is historically social-democrat, while the French Communist Party (PCF) is a governmental party, who participated to Jospin's Gauche plurielle (Plural Lefts) government (with ministers such as Jean-Claude Gayssot, etc.). In this sense, the PCF does not consider itself a far-left party, to the contrary of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) or Workers' Struggle (LO). But the PCF does consider itself part of the "anti-liberal" coalition, which opposed the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE). Inside the French Socialist Party (PS, Parti socialiste) itself, Laurent Fabius headed the minority who opposed the treaty. However, the victory of the "No" during the May 2005 referendum on the TCE hasn't been exploited yet by the left parties or organisations which supported it. The main topic of the non-PS left-wings was to try to choose a single candidate for the "anti-liberal" Left, which opposes neo-liberalism. This eventually failed, and the far-left was represented by four competing candidates, Marie-George Buffet, Olivier Besancenot, José Bové and Arlette Laguiller [32][33]."
  • High-level political scandals and disrepute — A number of scandals have tainted various French politicians, including president Jacques Chirac (see Corruption scandals in the Paris region), 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.
  • Feminism — France's first woman president may be elected in 2007—Ségolène Royal, a Socialist, is running following her selection on 16 November 2006 as the candidate for the Socialist Party.
  • 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, were interested in his support.
  • Labour. Both Royal and Sarkozy have called for "labour" to be respected as a value, although the meaning of this is somewhat open to very different interpretations.
  • Housing and homelessness. Following political actions by the Enfants de Don Quichotte NGO, who set up tents for homeless people by the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris and elsewhere, in December 2006, the problem of homelessness was at the centre of the campaign for a period of time. The death of veteran campaigner Abbé Pierre a short time afterward increased the focus on the issue.
  • Religion and communautarisme. Sarkozy has opposed both the left-wing and Chirac on the issue of religions, adopting a stance critical of state secularism and of the 1905 law on Separation of the State and the Church. His creation of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) was strongly criticised as giving an official voice to the more radical sectors of organised Islam religion.
  • Bayrou's candidacy. François Bayrou, leader of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) centre-right party, decided to present himself as a centrist candidate. He opposed in particular the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party led by Sarkozy. Critics have pointed out that Bayrou and his party voted along with the UMP parliamentary majority on nearly all cases [34]. Bayrou's trend is generally considered to be the inheritor of the Christian-Democrat MRP.

Officially proposed policies

  • Europe
    • Ségolène Royal (Socialist Party) proposed a referendum on a new European treaty for 2009. She declared she would request guarantees on the social policies followed by the European Union, in particular by reaching an agreement with German chancellor Angela Merkel on the controversial role of the European Central Bank - contrary to the Fed, the ECB has an exclusive role to counter inflation. Royal stated she would negotiate with European partners in order to include economic growth and employment as aims within the ECB's policies.[35]) [36]
    • Nicolas Sarkozy (Union for a Popular Movement) proposed a simplified European treaty which would be ratified by the French Parliament instead of being submitted to a referendum. He also declared himself against the rule of unanimity in European decisions and opposed the accession of Turkey to the European Union [37]. Furthermore, he said he would argue in favour of a reevaluation of the Euro, to increase the European budget of Defense and to create a European Foreign Affairs Minister [38].
  • International policies
  • Economic and social policies
    • Royal promised a SMIC (minimum wages) at 1,500 Euros per month and 90% of salary for year after losing job [39]. She declared herself for the repeal of the CNE employment contract [35]. She declared herself for the reimbursement of public aid to companies who offshored themselves, and would not support with public money firms that implement downsizing plans [35].
    • Sarkozy proposed to the contrary to repeal the 35-hour workweek previously established by PS minister Martine Aubry during Lionel Jospin's government.
  • Energy and environment
  • Unemployment
    • Royal promised that no youth will stay unemployed for more than 6 months without receiving a publicly-supported job or a formation [35]. She also said she would create zero interest loans to youth [35].
  • Health
  • Housing
    • Royal declared herself for a construction project of 120,000 council homes a year to cut the "lodging crisis" as well as a private rent cap and life-long guarantee of housing (in the continuation of the debate on the droit au logement, right to housing, on the model of Scotland's 2003 Homelessness Act). She said she would simplify procedures for evicting people who were deliberately not paying their rent; and would facilitate the purchase of council housing by people who have rented it for 15 years [35].
    • Sarkozy promised to provide assistance for those who want to buy their council homes and to eradicate homelessness within two years [39]
  • Immigration
    • Royal declared herself in favor of granting residency papers (i.e. of regularization of the status of illegal aliens) if they have a work permit and reside in France for a sufficient time [39].
    • Sarkozy promised to cut immigration flux and favour "chosen immigration" (i.e. "qualified immigration") [39].
  • Taxes
    • Royal said she would not increase general taxation, would lighten burden on employment-creative firms and "consolidate" the 35-hour week, a goal which would pass by decreasing its negative effects [39][35]. She said she would modulate tax on companies depending on if they use it for re-investment or to redistribute the profits to the shareholders [35]. She also declared she would simplify the procedures to create new firms and better the social protection on employers [35].
    • Sarkozy promised to cut taxes by four percent, increase the exemption for inheritance tax to 95% and grant a "right to work for more than 35 hours." [39].
  • Law and order
    • Royal said she would force young offenders to military-like education [39]. She promised to double the budget of the Minister of Justice, strengthen security in public transports, vote a law against domestic violence, reinforce judicial aid processes and create an independent organ of surveillance of the state of prisons [35].
    • Sarkozy declared himself in favour of minimum terms for recidivists and tougher sentences on juvenile offenders [39].
  • Culture and Media
  • Research
    • Royal said she would increase the research budget by 10% and increase the budget for universities to the extent that, within 5 years it would reach the average of OECD countries.[35]
    • Sarkozy said he would increase by 40% the budget dedicated to research by 2012 [38].
  • Budget
  • Institutional reforms
    • Royal said she would grant the right of foreigners to vote in local elections [35]. She would repeal the veto of the Senate in constitutional matters [35]. She declared herself in favour of the addition of a laïcité chart (secular chart) to the Constitution [35].
    • Sarkozy said he would establish minimum service in the public administration (thus restricting right of strike); suppress useless bodies; increase the productivity of the public administration; insure state expenses by taxes only; limit to two mandates the Presidency; organize the responsibility of the President before the Parliament; limit to 15 the number of ministers; non-replacement of one civil servant out of two which retires and increase of wages and formation in the public administration [38].

Schedule for the election

Candidates

Requirements

The foreign media cover the event
Reference: Constitutional Council, FAQ
Further information: President of the French Republic

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 the 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 randomised 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.

File:2007 presidential france official posters.jpg
Official posters for the first round of vote near a polling station in rural France.

There were a total of 12 candidates for the 2007 election.[42]

Leading candidates

4 candidates consistently registered over 10% in the opinion polls and were regarded as having a reasonable chance of reaching the second round.[43]

Other candidates

These were the 8 other candidates who obtained the required 500 signatures from elected officials to endorse their candidacy.

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. [7] In March, Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy.[47]. 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, [8], 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.[48]
  • 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.[49]
  • Antoine Waechter: Independent Ecological Movement, withdrew his candidacy on 14 March 2007

Did not get enough endorsements

Legal issues and freedom of speech

File:French presidential election P1200051.jpg
Official campaign posters of candidates regularly get vandalised
File:Urne DSCN1426.JPG
Transparent ballot boxes are compulsory since 1988
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.

  • Prominent 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[50] 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. [51]Thus he styled himself as "the candidates of mayors" or "candidate of some mayors" ("de maires" rather than "des maires" — see United Nations Security Council Resolution 242#Semantic dispute for an analogy of this difference between de and des).
  • Using the three colours of the national flag (blue, white, and red) on electoral advertisements or partisan documentation is prohibited by electoral regulations.[52]. Ségolène Royal contends that the book Ensemble ("together") published by Nicolas Sarkozy, whose cover is blue, white and red,[53] is effectively an electoral partisan documentation and should be covered by this prohibition.[54]
  • 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 believes it would be illegal.[55]
  • 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.[56] 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 [9]. Another problem was that the results from the voting offices in the Americas (consulate and oversea possessions of France) were counted on Saturday night[57], and some began circulating rumours as to these results.

Abstention and spoilt votes

Abstention was exceptionally low, as well as protest votes. Blank vote (going to vote, but deliberately cancelling one's ballot, by any means possible — tearing it in two, writing Tintin on it, or anything absurd as such) is not included in official counts — i.e. it is considered a spoilt vote, counted as equivalent to abstention. A very small party, the Parti Blanc (White Party, for "white vote," i.e. blank vote) has called for the official count of white votes by the state (as in None of the above systems). It organised a march in Paris on Wednesday 18 March, 2007. Only thirty persons participated in it [58].

Electronic voting

For the first time in a presidential election, electronic voting has been introduced in some places. Voting machines have been autorised in 2004. They have been introduced in only 82 of 36,000 voting districts, and have been criticized by a number of persons, both on the left and on the right [59]. A petition against them has also been made (see Wikinews:Electronic voting disputed in France).

Position of third parties

French personalities

Approximately 200 French intellectuals expressed support for Ségolène Royal. These included the philosopher Etienne Balibar (a student of Louis Althusser) [31], the editor François Maspero, the historian Pierre Rosanvallon, the psychanalyst Fethi Benslama, the philosopher Jacques Bouveresse, the sociologist Robert Castel, the philosopher Catherine Colliot-Thélène, the writer Chloé Delaume, the historian Michel Dreyfus, the anthropologist Françoise Héritier, the sculptor Françoise Jolivet, the film-maker Roy Lekus, the sociologist Eric Macé, the philosopher Pierre Macherey, the philosopher Jean-Claude Monod the artist Ariane Mnouchkine, the economist Yann Moulier Boutang (involved with Multitudes), the historian Gérard Noiriel, the historian Pascal Ory, the historian Michelle Perrot, the economist Thomas Piketty, the historian Benjamin Stora, the anthropologist Emmanuel Terray, the lawyer Michel Tubiana (former president of the Human Rights League), and the sociologist Loïc Wacquant (a student of Pierre Bourdieu). [60].

Régis Debray called to vote first for a far-left candidate, then Royal in the second round.[24]

On the other hand, the so-called Nouveaux Philosophes were split on their support. André Glucksmann called to vote Sarkozy [61], while Bernard-Henri Lévy voted for Ségolène Royal.[62] Max Gallo, who had supported the left-wing Republican Jean-Pierre Chevènement in 2002, joined Sarkozy five years later.[63] Pascal Bruckner and Alain Finkielkraut have also proved close to Sarkozy, although they did not declare support for him, but Sarkozy did support Finkielkraut after controversial statements made in Haaretz newspaper following the 2005 civil unrest.[64] According to the journalist Jacques Julliard, the support of some French intellectuals for the 2003 invasion of Iraq is the root of their rallying to Sarkozy, following the creation of the review titled Le Meilleur des mondes (Brave New World). Pascal Bruckner (who recently aroused controversy for his racist statements), historian Stéphane Courtois, Thérèse Delpech, André Glucksmann, Romain Goupil, Pierre-André Taguieff, Olivier Rollin, and Pierre Rigoulot are frequent contributors to this review.

Tennis player Yannick Noah called to vote for Royal, while Sarkozy obtained the support of the rapper Doc Gyneco, and former politician and current actor Bernard Tapie. The humourist Dieudonné and the writer Alain Soral supported Jean-Marie Le Pen.

International support

Abroad, Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian premier, gave his support to Sarkozy immediately following the first round, while Romano Prodi, the current Italian premier and leader of the centre-left Union coalition, called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal [65].

On the other hand, British film-maker Ken Loach gave his support to Olivier Besancenot in March [66].

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has shown his support for Royal. [67].

European commissioner and Vice-President Margot Wallström was criticised after she informally suggested support for Royal on her blog, celebrating the fact that a woman got into the second round. She said: "J'étais si contente de voir qu‘une femme participera au deuxième tour de l‘élection présidentielle!" (I am delighted with the sight of a woman participating in the second round of the presidential election!) [68] Commissioners are not meant to be politically biased in elections under their code of conduct [69]. It should be noted that Wallström is a social-democrat, like Royal. José Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission, has privately discussed the idea of forming a "strategic partnership" with Mr. Sarkozy. [70]

Opinion polling

Before the second round of vote

Polling Firm Date Source Sarkozy Royal
Ipsos 2 May2007 [10] 53.5 46.5
BVA 2 May2007 [11] 52 48
Ipsos 1 May2007 [12] 53 47
Ifop 30 April2007 [13] 53 47
TNS-Sofres 29 April2007 [14] 52 48
Ipsos 29 April2007 [15] 52.5 47.5
Ipsos 28 April2007 [16] 52.5 47.5
Ifop 27 April2007 [17] 52.5 47.5
Ipsos 27 April2007 [18] 53 47
Ipsos 26 April2007 [19] 53 47
BVA 26 April2007 [20] 53 47
Ipsos 25 April2007 [21] 53.5 46.5
TNS-Sofres 24 April2007 [22] 51 49
Ipsos 24 April2007 [23] 54 46
LH2 23 April2007 [24] 54 46
CSA 22 April2007 [25] 53.5 46.5
BVA 22 April2007 [26] 52 48
Ifop 22 April2007 [27] 54 46
Ipsos 22 April2007 [28] 54 46

Exit polls first round

Expatriated voters queue in Lausanne for the first round

Under French Law, exit polls were not officially allowed to be published until after the polling stations close at 1800 UTC. Three polls, the first published by France 2 television conducted by IPSOS, the second conducted by Sofres, the third conducted by CSA, gave:

Candidate Party IPSOS Sofres CSA
Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 30.8 30.5 30.6
Ségolène Royal PS 25.2 25.7 25.9
François Bayrou UDF 19.0 18.5 18.5
Jean-Marie Le Pen FN 10.8 11.0 10.8
Olivier Besancenot LCR 4.1 4.3 4.5
Philippe de Villiers MPF 2.3 2.4 2.3
Marie-George Buffet PCF 2.0 1.9 2.0
Dominique Voynet The Greens 1.5 1.5 1.5
Arlette Laguiller LO 1.4 1.4 1.4
José Bové Ind 1.3 1.3 1.2
Frédéric Nihous CPNT 1.2 1.1 1.0
Gérard Schivardi PT 0.3 0.4 0.3

Sources: elections.france2.fr, tns-sofres.com, csa-fr.com

Before first round of vote

Polling Firm Date Source Sarkozy Royal Bayrou Le Pen Others Second round
Ipsos 21 April2007 [29] 30 23.5 17 13.5 16 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52.5 Sarkozy 47.5
CSA 20 April2007 [30] 26.5 25.5 16 16.5 15.5 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ifop 20 April2007 [31] 28 22.5 20 13 16.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45, Bayrou 58 Royal 42
Ipsos 20 April2007 [32] 30 23 18 13 16 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
TNS-Sofres 19 April2007 [33] 28 24 19.5 14 14.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46
BVA 19 April2007 [34] 29 25 15 13 18 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 19 April2007 [35] 30 23.5 18.5 13 15 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
Ifop 18 April2007 [36] 28 22.5 19 12.5 18 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 18 April2007 [37] 28.5 25 19 14 13.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 18 April2007 [38] 29.5 24.5 18.5 13.5 14 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
CSA 17 April2007 [39] 27 25 19 15.5 13.5 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ipsos 17 April2007 [40] 28.5 25 18.5 14 14 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46
Louis-Harris 16 April2007 [41] 27 23 19 14 17 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
CSA 15 April2007 [42] 26 23 21 15 15 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 15 April2007 [43] 29.5 25 17.5 13.5 14.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
Ifop 15 April2007 [44] 28.5 24 18 13 16.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 14 April2007 [45] 30 26 17 12 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 14 April2007 [46] 29.5 24.5 17.5 14 14.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
Ipsos 13 April2007 [47] 30 24 18.5 13.5 14 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
CSA 12 April2007 [48] 27 25 19 15 14 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 12 April2007 [49] 29.5 24 19 14 13.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
BVA 12 April2007 [50] 28 24 18 14 16 Sarkozy 55 Royal 45
Ipsos 11 April2007 [51] 30 23.5 19 13.5 14 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
Ipsos 10 April2007 [52] 30.5 23 19.5 13 14 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53.5 Sarkozy 46.5
Louis-Harris 09 April2007 [53] 28 24 18 15 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 08 April2007 [54] 29.5 22 19 14 15.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 08 April2007 [55] 30.5 22.5 19.5 13 14.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
Ipsos 07 April2007 [56] 31.5 23.5 19 12.5 13.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
CSA 06 April2007 [57] 26 23.5 21 16 13.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 06 April2007 [58] 31 24 18.5 13 13.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5
BVA 05 April2007 [59] 29.5 24 18 12 16.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 05 April2007 [60] 31.5 24.5 18.5 13 12.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Ifop 04 April2007 [61] 27.5 23 20 14 15.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 04 April2007 [62] 31.5 25 18.5 13 12 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Ipsos 03 April2007 [63] 31.5 24 19 13.5 12 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Louis-Harris 02 April2007 [64] 29 26 18 13 14 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 01 April2007 [65] 31 24.5 19 13 12.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
Ipsos 31 March2007 [66] 32 24 18.5 12 13.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5
Ifop 31 March2007 [67] 28 23 21 13.5 14.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
TNS-Sofres 30 March2007 [68] 30 27 18 12 13 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
CSA 30 March2007 [69] 26 24.5 19.5 15 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 30 March2007 [70] 31.5 25 17.5 12 14 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 51 Sarkozy 49
Ipsos 29 March2007 [71] 31 24.5 18 12.5 14 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5, Bayrou 51.5 Sarkozy 48.5
BVA 27 March2007 [72] 28 27 20 12 13 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ipsos 27 March2007 [73] 30.5 25 18.5 13 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 52 Sarkozy 48
Louis-Harris 24 March2007 [74] 27 27 20 12 14 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 60 Sarkozy 40
Ipsos 24 March2007 [75] 30 25.5 19 13.5 12 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 53 Sarkozy 47
Ifop 23 March2007 [76] 26 25 22 14.5 12.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
TNS-Sofres 23 March2007 [77] 28 26.5 21.5 11 13 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
CSA 22 March2007 [78] 26 26 21 13 14 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
BVA 20 March2007 [79] 31 24 17 13 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ifop 19 March2007 [80] 28 24 21 14 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46
Louis-Harris 17 March2007 [81] 29 26 22 12.5 10.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 57 Sarkozy 43
Ipsos 17 March2007 [82] 29.5 25 21 12.5 12 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 17 March2007 [83] 26 24 22.5 14 13.5 Sarkozy 51.5 Royal 48.5
TNS-Sofres 15 March2007 [84] 31 24 22 12 11 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 60 Royal 40
CSA 14 March2007 [85] 27 26 21 14 12 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 14 March2007 [86] 28.5 24 23 13.5 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
BVA 13 March2007 [87] 29 23 21 13 14 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45
Louis-Harris 10 March2007 [88] 28 26 22 13.5 10.5 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45
Ipsos 10 March2007 [89] 31 25.5 21.5 12.5 9.5 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5
Ifop 9 March2007 [90] 28 23 23 13 13
TNS-Sofres 8 March2007 [91] 27 25.5 23 12 12 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
CSA 7 March2007 [92] 26 25 24 14 11 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 7 March2007 [93] 32.5 27 19 12.5 9 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
BVA 6 March2007 [94] 29 24 21 13 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 55 Sarkozy 45
Louis-Harris 3 March2007 [95] 28 27 20 14 11 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
TNS-Sofres 1 March2007 [96] 31 25.5 18.5 12 13 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 28 February2007 [97] 32 25 18 12.5 10 Sarkozy 53.5 Royal 46.5
CSA 28 February2007 [98] 29 29 17 14 11 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
BVA 27 February2007 [99] 31 25 17 14 13 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 55 Royal 45
Louis-Harris 24 February2007 [100] 30 27 17 13 13 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ifop 23 February2007 [101] 28 28 17 11.5 15.5 Sarkozy 50.5 Royal 49.5
BVA 20 February2007 [102] 33 26 15 10 16 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48, Bayrou 54 Sarkozy 46, Bayrou 52 Royal 48
CSA 20 February2007 [103] 28 29 17 14 13 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Louis-Harris 17 February2007 [104] 33 25.5 14 13 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ipsos 17 February2007 [105] 33 23 16 13 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ifop 15 February2007 [106] 32 25.5 16 11 15.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 15 February2007 [107] 33 26 12 13 16 Sarkozy 55 Royal 45
CSA 12 February2007 [108] 33 26 12 14 15 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
BVA 12 February2007 [109] 35 29 14 10 12 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 12 February2007 [110] 34 27 14 13 12 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Ifop 12 February2007 [111] 33.5 26 14 10 16.5 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Louis-Harris 10 February2007 [112] 31 27 13 12 17 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Louis-Harris 3 February2007 [113] 33 27 13 9 18 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 3 February2007 [114] 34 27 13 11 15 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
TNS-Sofres 1 February2007 [115] 32 26 13 12.5 18.5 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
CSA 31 January2007 [116] 31 27 12 16 14 Sarkozy 53 Royal 47
Ipsos 27 January2007 [117] 35 26 11 11 17 Sarkozy 54 Royal 46
Louis-Harris 27 January2007 [118] 31 29 14 10 15.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
BVA 23 January2007 [119] 33 27 13 10 17 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 20 January2007 [120] 32 29 11 13 15 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 20 January2007 [121] 32.5 28 12.5 11 16 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
CSA 17 January2007 [122] 30 29 9 15 17 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ifop 15 January2007 [123] 33 28 12 10 17 Sarkozy 52 Royal 48
Ipsos 7 January2007 [124] 33 32 10 12 13 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ifop 5 January2007 [125] 25 27 10 12 25.5 Royal 50.5 Sarkozy 49.5
CSA 3 January2007 [126] 32 34 6 15 13 Royal 52 Sarkozy 48
Ifop 15 December2006 [127] 29 31 8 11 21 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
BVA 12 December2006 [128] 32 35 8 9 16 Royal 51 Sarkozy 49
Ipsos 9 December2006 [129] 34 32 9 11.5 13.5 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
Ipsos 2 December2006 [130] 35 31 8 12.5 14.5 Sarkozy 51 Royal 49
Ifop 1 December2006 [131] 30 31 9 12 18 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
CSA 22 November2006 [132] 29 32 6 17 16 Royal 53 Sarkozy 47
Ifop 18 November2006 [133] 29 29 11 11 20 Royal 51 Sarkozy 49
Ipsos 11 November2006 [134] 34 30 8 10 18 Sarkozy 50 Royal 50
TNS-Sofres 9 November2006 [135] 34 34 7 13 12
CSA 8 November2006 [136] 30 29 7 15 19 Royal 51 Sarkozy 49
CSA 18 October2006 [137] 31 32 7 15 15 Royal 52 Sarkozy 48

International media coverage

The 2007 French presidential elections in France have been heavily covered by international media due to the significance of France's stature as a European Union member as well as being a member of the G7 nations. For example, on 22 April 2007, CNN International carried live coverage of Ségolène Royal's speech after the day's election. Hala Gorani of CNN also conducted a live interview and analysis with some of France's bloggers and political insiders after Ségolène Royal's speech.

See also

References

  1. ^ Associated Press (2007-04-22). "Voting begins in presidential election in France". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2007-04-29. "Either way, France will get its first president born after World War II, since both Royal and Sarkozy are in their fifties."
  2. ^ Including children and non-registered people (citizens and non-citizens)
  3. ^ Elections 2007 on the website of Libération Template:Fr icon
  4. ^ France left with clear choice, BBC, April 23, 2007 Template:En icon
  5. ^ Results from Le Monde Template:Fr icon
  6. ^ http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2102972,00.html
  7. ^ http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/5436
  8. ^ Déclaration d’Olivier Besancenot Template:Fr icon
  9. ^ Philippe de Villiers appelle à voter pour Nicolas Sarkozy, Le Monde, 25 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  10. ^ "Le Pen tells his supporters to abstain in French election". 2007-05-01. Retrieved 2007-05-02.
  11. ^ Bayrou Refuses to Endorse Candidate, Sfgate, April 25, 2007 Template:En icon
  12. ^ François Bayrou refuse de donner une consigne de vote, (video), Le Monde, 25 March 2007 Template:Fr icon
  13. ^ Jean-Luc Porquet, "Le Pen refait et contre-fait", Le Canard enchaîné, 25 April 2007 (n°4513)
  14. ^ a b Sarkozy et les immigrés «qui n'aiment pas» la France, RFI, 24 April 2006 Template:Fr icon
  15. ^ Besson, le traître étalon, Libération, 23 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  16. ^ For France’s Right-Wing Candidate, “Paedophiles are born, not made”, L'Humanité, 4 April 2007 (transl. 26 April) Template:En icon
  17. ^ Dialogue between Nicolas Sarkozy and Michel Onfray in Philo Mag, Confidences entre ennemis Template:Fr icon
  18. ^ Les propos sur la génétique de Nicolas Sarkozy suscitent la polémique, Le Monde, 4 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  19. ^ Tollé dans la communauté scientifique après les propos de Nicolas Sarkozy sur la génétique, Le Monde, 11 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  20. ^ Le Canard enchaîné, "Le Gay Savoir de Sarko", 18 April 2007
  21. ^ A Look behind the Operation for an Alliance of the Center, L'Humanité, 17 April 2007 (transl. April 19) Template:En icon
  22. ^ Présidentielles, résultats définitifs en Bretagne, Agence Bretagne Presse, 23 April 2007
  23. ^ Aimé Césaire refuse de recevoir Nicolas Sarkozy, Le Monde, 7 December 2005 Template:Fr icon
  24. ^ a b Régis Debray, La Coupe de l'Elysée 2007, Le Monde, 23 February 2007 Template:Fr icon
  25. ^ Ségolène Royal, pour « l’ordre juste », L'Humanité, October 4, 2006; Les 100 proposiions de Ségolène Royal, Libération, 12 février 2007, proposition 52
  26. ^ 2007 Presidential Campaign: Humiliated, the "Beur" Minister Defects ... to the Right, L'Humanité, 16 March 2007 (transl. 30 March) Template:En icon
  27. ^ Les reconduites à la frontière en France depuis 1990, Le Monde, 26 March 2007 Template:Fr icon
  28. ^ Répression: Sarkozy s’en prend aux immigrés, L'Humanité, 10 November 2005 Template:Fr icon
  29. ^ Nicolas Sarkozy fait de la sécurité un thème majeur de la campagne, Le Monde, 1 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  30. ^ M. Sarkozy contre l’anti-France, Le Monde diplomatique, 26 September 2005 Template:Fr icon
  31. ^ a b Etienne Balibar, «Royal, pour faire échec à la droite», Libération, 6 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  32. ^ What Future for the Anti-liberal Movement?, L'Humanité, 22 December 2006 (transl. 25 December) Template:En icon
  33. ^ José Bové - One Candidacy Too Many or a Miracle Candidate?, analysis in L'Humanité, 2 February 2007 (transl. 23 February) Template:En icon
  34. ^ Bayrou’s Journey to the Heart of the Chirac-d’Estaing Machine, L'Humanité, 9 March 2007 (transl. 11 April) Template:En icon
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Les principales propositions de Ségolène Royal, Le Monde, 16 March 2007 Template:Fr icon
  36. ^ Europe : le programme des candidats (Royal), Le Monde, 13 March 2007 Template:Fr icon
  37. ^ Europe : le programme des candidats (Sarkozy)Le Monde, 13 March 2007 Template:Fr icon
  38. ^ a b c d e f Les principales propositions de Nicolas Sarkozy, Le Monde, 16 March 2007 Template:Fr icon
  39. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Royal, Sarkozy and Bayrou: The policies, BBC, 11 April 2007 Template:En icon
  40. ^ Decree n°2007-227 of February 21, 2007
  41. ^ 6 questions about the president
  42. ^ a b Decision of March 19, 2007, of the Constitutional Council
  43. ^ 3-way presidential race building in France
  44. ^ France's Jacques Chirac Backs Nicolas Sarkozy. 21 March 2007.
  45. ^ France's Le Pen 'to run' in poll, BBC
  46. ^ 11 French hopefuls make deadline
  47. ^ Chirac Backs Sarkozy in Poll Race
  48. ^ [1]
  49. ^ [2]
  50. ^ April 2, 2007, Injunction by Isabelle Nicole, first vice-president of the Paris court of large claims
  51. ^ Reuters, April 2, 2007
  52. ^ Electoral code, article R27: "Posters and flyers, having an electoral goal or character, and including some combination of the three colours blue, white, and red (except the reproduction of an emblem of a party or political group), are prohibited"
  53. ^ Nicolas Sarkozy, Ensemble, Xo, 3 April 2007, ISBN 2845633459
  54. ^ M. Sarkozy et Mme Royal se rendent coup pour coup, Le Monde
  55. ^ Reuters, April 5, 2007
  56. ^ Law 77-808 of July 19, 1977, articl 11, as amended by law 2002-214 of February 19 2002
  57. ^ http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/dossier/presidentielles/2007/documents/operations/operations.htm
  58. ^ Le Parti blanc voudrait légitimer les bulletins vierges, Le Monde, April 20, 2007 Template:Fr icon
  59. ^ France to choose president with help of electronic voting, International Herald Tribune, 17 April 2007 Template:En icon
  60. ^ Un appel d'intellectuels pour Ségolène Royal, Le Nouvel Observateur, 19 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  61. ^ Pourquoi je choisis Nicolas Sarkozy, Le Monde, 29 January 2007 Template:Fr icon
  62. ^ Bernard-Henri Lévy votera Ségolène Royal, Le Nouvel Observateur, 10 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  63. ^ Le pas de deux de Max Gallo et Nicolas Sarkozy, Le Monde, 22 June 2006 Template:Fr icon
  64. ^ L'Amérique dans leur tête, Chronicle of Jacques Julliard in Le Nouvel Observateur, 8 February 2007 Template:Fr icon
  65. ^ Coups de griffe, séduction et bons conseils : récit du jour d'après, Le Monde, 24 April 2007 Template:Fr icon
  66. ^ Le cinéaste anglais Ken Loach annonce sur une vidéo son soutien à Olivier Besancenot, Marianne, 26 March 2007
  67. ^ [3]
  68. ^ Margot Wallström (2007-04-23). "L'élection présidentielle française".
  69. ^ http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/code_of_conduct/code_conduct_en.pdf European Commissioner's Code of Conduct
  70. ^ http://euobserver.com/9/23951 [Sarkozy has support in Berlin, London and Brussels, EUobserver]

External links

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