World
Sarkozy, Hollande step up battle to woo French far right
AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE WOJAZER / PATRICK KOVARIK UMP party candidate for the 2012 French presidential elections Nicolas Sarkozy (L) and Socialist Party (PS) candidate Francois Hollande. Hollande won the first round of the French presidential vote on April 22, 2012, setting himself up for a May 6 run-off with right-wing incumbent Sarkozy.
Posted Tuesday, April 24 2012 at 17:50
Gilbert Collard, head of the FN support committee, said Tuesday he believed "Marine Le Pen will probably give an instruction to vote blank."
Polls show that most far-right supporters prefer Sarkozy, but up to a quarter -- mainly working-class voters attracted by Le Pen's protectionist trade policies -- could switch to Hollande.
Le Pen's score on Sunday was nearly double the 10.4 percent her father and former party leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, got when he stood in 2007.
The French left has not won a presidential election in a quarter of a century, but with France mired in low growth and rising joblessness, opinion polls had long predicted Hollande would beat Sarkozy.
Hollande says Sarkozy has trapped France in a downward spiral of austerity and job losses, while Sarkozy says his rival is inexperienced and weak-willed and would spark financial panic through reckless spending pledges.
Hollande has already received the backing of other left-wing first round candidates, including Jean-Luc Melenchon, who took just over 11 percent of the vote.
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