Looking forward to 2007 in France
Things are certainly stirring in France and one of my recent post should give you the appropriate information on the flurry in French politics. However, the current turmoil notwithstanding the French people actually also have to elect a new president in 2007 and as Angus.Reid consultants report it is likely to be a battle between Sarkozy and Mme Royal, at least that is what they conclude yet it is truly difficult to say at this juncture I think
"Prospective Socialist Party (PS) candidate Ségolène Royal holds the upper hand against either of two current French government ministers in the second round of next year’s presidential ballot, according to a poll by Ipsos published in Le Point.
In the first sample, interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) is first with 35 per cent, followed by Royal—the leader of the regional government of Poitou-Charentes—with 30 per cent. Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front (FN) is third with 10 per cent, followed by Union for French Democracy (UDF) leader François Bayrou with six per cent, and Movement for France (MPF) leader Philippe de Villiers and Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) member Olivier Besancenot with five per cent each.
In a second sample, Royal is in first place with 32 per cent, followed current prime minister Dominique de Villepin with 15 per cent, Le Pen with 14 per cent, Bayrou with 11 per cent, and de Villiers with 10 per cent.
In two prospective run-off scenarios, Royal holds a two-point edge over Sarkozy, and a 24-point advantage over de Villepin.
On May 20, a march against the government’s proposed immigration law took place in Paris. Members of the PS, the LCR, Workers’ Struggle (LO), the French Communist Party (PCF) and the Greens (Verts) participated in the demonstration. Royal was not present.
The UMP’s Jacques Chirac won the presidential ballot in 1995, and was re-elected in a run-off over Le Pen in May 2002. The next election is tentatively scheduled for April 2007."