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Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party and its allies have taken first place in the first round of French local elections, partial results show.

Projections suggest that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front (FN) – despite strong gains – came second with about 25% of the vote, behind the conservatives on about 30%.

President Francois Hollande’s governing Socialists came third with 21%.

Voters are electing representatives in 101 departments, or counties, charged with issues like schools and welfare.

The results mean the second round on March 29 will see a run-off between the UMP and the FN in many constituencies.

Photo Reuters

Photo Reuters

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy said outcome of the elections demonstrated “the French people’s profound desire for change”.

“The conditions for a massive swing back to the right and the centre are in place,” he added.

Nicolas Sarkozy also ruled out any “local or national” deals with the FN in constituencies where one of the two parties was involved in run-offs with the Socialists.

In the past, voters for rival parties have rallied against the far right group in the second round of voting.

The poor results for the Socialists follows on from their defeats in municipal and EU elections last year.

Some polls ahead of the vote had indicated that Marine Le Pen’s FN could come top in the first round.

Marine Le Pen had been hoping the elections would build momentum ahead of her expected bid for the presidency in 2017.

Socialist PM Manuel Valls welcomed the news that the FN had scored less that some had predicted, saying the results showed it was not the strongest force in French politics.

However, Marine Le Pen called for Manuel Valls to resign, celebrating what she said was a “massive vote” for her party, exceeding its performance in the European Parliament elections.

For the first time, voters in these elections are not choosing single candidates – but pairs of candidates – one man and one woman – in order to enforce strict gender equality in local politics.

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French people are voting in local elections in which Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front party (FN) is expected to score big gains.

Voters are electing representatives in 101 departments, or counties, charged with issues like schools and welfare.

Sunday’s first round will be followed a second in a week’s time.National Front France local elections 2015

Polls suggest that the Socialists of President Francois Hollande will suffer another setback, after defeats in municipal and EU elections last year.

The Socialists and the centre-right UMP have been joined by the FN, not as a freakish upstart but a serious contender for power.

The FN has benefited from economic stagnation, high unemployment, and general hostility to mainstream parties.

The governing Socialists and their left-wing allies are expected to take the biggest hit, losing many of the 61 departments they hold.

The FN is also taking voters from the UMP, which has struggled to unify behind a single leader since the defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2012 presidential election.

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Francois Hollande’s socialists have suffered big losses in France’s municipal elections, according to early results.

The opposition UMP claims victory and the far right National Front (FN) celebrates further gains.

UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope hailed what he called a “blue wave” of support for his centre-right party.

Marine Le Pen’s FN was heading for victory in up to seven towns, early results indicated.

The Socialists have been hit by growing discontent over the economy.

Francois Hollande's socialists have suffered big losses in France’s municipal elections

Francois Hollande’s socialists have suffered big losses in France’s municipal elections

Turnout in Sunday’s second-round vote was low, which was bad news for President Francois Hollande’s Socialists as it was their supporters who were not voting

The National Front was on course for victory in the southern towns of Beziers and Frejus and in Villers-Cotterets north-east of Paris.

The centre-right UMP appears poised to capture a number of key cities, including Saint-Etienne, Reims and Roubaix.

A reshuffle – and quite likely a replacement for PM Jean-Marc Ayrault – could be announced as early as Monday.

In Paris, which has had a Socialist mayor since 2001, exit polls indicated Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo was set to defeat UMP candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.

It was seen as a consolation for the governing party on a night of setbacks.

Voters were choosing councilors and mayors in more than 36,000 municipalities. FN candidates had won through to the second round in some 200 places.

The FN is widely expected to do well in the European Parliament elections in May – and opinion polls suggest the Eurosceptic party is on course to come top.

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French far-right National Front party has made significant gains in local elections, winning an outright majority in Henin-Beaumont on the first round.

The National Front is in first place in some other towns it is targeting, according to projections.

President Francois Hollande’s Socialists have lost ground overall and may lose control of some major towns.

The vote is seen as a key test for the Socialists, deeply unpopular after nearly two years in power.

The Socialists were also hit by the low turnout in the first round of the elections – exit polls suggest up to 35% of voters stayed at home.

The vote is to choose councilors and mayors in more than 36,000 villages, towns and cities.

Marine Le Pen’s National Front party has made significant gains in local elections, winning an outright majority in Henin-Beaumont on the first round

Marine Le Pen’s National Front party has made significant gains in local elections, winning an outright majority in Henin-Beaumont on the first round

The anti-immigration National Front (FN) took 50.26% of the vote in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, which has historically voted for the left.

Elsewhere, in Avignon and Perpignan in the south, the party’s candidates for mayor had the biggest number of votes.

In some 200 places FN candidates have won through to the second round next weekend.

Marine Le Pen, National Front leader since 2011, hailed the results, saying her party had “arrived as a major independent force – a political force at both national and local level”.

In most cases, these candidates have little chance of gaining control of the town halls as they will be beaten in round two.

However, it is a big advance for the far right and an expression of the growing popular exasperation with the establishment parties of the right and the left.

Many people who voted for President Francois Hollande two years ago chose to abstain, which has meant losses for the Socialists and in many important towns they will struggle in the second round to hold off challenges from the main centre-right UMP opposition party.

Earlier, pollsters identified half a dozen towns that could see National Front rule as a result of the elections, giving it the chance to show it can be trusted with power after attempts to run four towns in the late 1990s revealed its lack of competence, Reuters news agency said.

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France’s far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen is facing criminal charges for inciting racism.

The French authorities opened a case against Marine Le Pen in 2011 after she likened the sight of Muslims praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation of France.

As a European Parliament member (MEP), Marine Le Pen enjoyed immunity from prosecution.

However, this protection was removed by a European parliamentary committee in a secret vote this week and it appears the vote to remove her immunity was “overwhelming”.

The vote will need to be ratified by the full parliament, but that’s expected to be a formality.

France's far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen is facing criminal charges for inciting racism

France’s far right National Front leader Marine Le Pen is facing criminal charges for inciting racism

When the parliament’s legal affairs committee first tried to consider the case, Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far right National Front party, failed to turn up.

This week she sent a fellow French MEP in her place.

The move clears the way for the French authorities to pursue a case against the leader, who steered Marine Le Pen’s party to a record 18% showing in the first round of last year’s presidential election.

Marine Le Pen made the remarks at a party rally in 2010 in the southern French town of Lyon.

She said that Muslims using the streets to pray because mosques were overflowing was an “occupation” of French territory.

Praying in the streets was banned in Paris in 2011 in response to growing far right protests.

By some estimates, as many as six million French people, or just under 10% of the population, are Muslims, with origins in France’s former North African colonies.

Their integration has been a source of political debate in recent years, and earlier this year France became the first EU state to ban the wearing of the Islamic veil in public.

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Madonna has said the angry reaction from a crowd at her recent 45-minute Olympia show in Paris was from “thugs who were not my fans”.

“Playing the Olympia was a magical moment for me,” Madonna said in a statement on her website.

“Unfortunately at the end of the show, after I left the stage, a few thugs who were not my fans rushed the stage… pretending to be angry fans,” the singer added.

Some fans on Twitter agreed with Madonna but others said they had booed her.

One said: “I have been a fan for 20 years and I booed Madonna at the Olympia! 45 minutes for 275 euros. Shame on you.”

Madonna has said the angry reaction from a crowd at her recent 45-minute Olympia show in Paris was from "thugs who were not my fans

Madonna has said the angry reaction from a crowd at her recent 45-minute Olympia show in Paris was from "thugs who were not my fans

Another tweeted: “Madonna has blamed <<rogues>> attending her concert at the Olympia without understanding that her fans feel cheated.”

Media website The Examiner said “many fans did feel short-changed due to lack of communication on how the show would be shorter”.

But it suggested that “the actual riots and the screaming were started by supporters of Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right National Front in Paris. Apparently, they are still upset that Madonna compared Le Pen to a Nazi in her tour.”

The 2,000 tickets sold out in minutes, with fans paying between $125-$315 and some reportedly changing hands for up to $1,600.

Paris resident Allain Zambrana, 26, from Nicaragua, said he wanted to ask for his money back.

“I felt very frustrated because I camped out on the streets and then the show just ends like that.”

Several people cried “refund” as they realized Madonna had left the stage for good.

Dutch fan Ellis Van Zoen, 22, agreed the show was “very short”, but added: “I’m torn – I thought it was a fantastic show and it was special. I don’t want to see fans yelling at her but I can understand why.”

Other fans vented their frustration on a Facebook page owned by the star’s publicist, Liz Rosenburg.

“Some people slept in the streets for 48 hours. So what happened with the concert?” asked Rudy Vanhover.

“She was incredible but we were all shocked by the departure and the duration of the concert.”

Others were more supportive.

“It was an amazing experience to be part of this wonderful show,” commented Christopher Houthaeve.

“I purchased the category 1 ticket and have absolutely no regrets.”

Madonna said the “thugs” threw plastic bottles at the stage and that “the press reports have focused on this and not the joyous aspect of the evening”.

“But nothing can take away or ruin this very special evening for me and my fans. When I looked out in the audience, everyone I saw had a smile on their face. I look forward to having this wonderful experience again.”

At her concert in Vienna on Sunday, Madonna told the crowd: “Those people were not my fans, they were not there to support me.

“But that’s ok because wherever there is darkness, I’m going to bring you some light… we’re not going to let them spoil our fun, are we?”

 

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Madonna fans vented their anger after the singer ended a special intimate show at Paris Olympia after just 45 minutes.

Madonna said she had “a special affinity with France” as she opened the last minute concert, but drew boos from many disappointed fans.

Some had camped outside the Olympia club since Wednesday in anticipation of the show.

The 2,000 tickets sold out in minutes, with fans paying between $125-$320 and some changing hands for up to $1,600.

Madonna was also criticized for talking about politics instead of singing, after revealing she had a message for France’s extreme right-wing leader Marine Le Pen.

France’s National Front is threatening to sue the star for using an image of Marine Le Pen with a swastika superimposed on her forehead at a concert earlier this month.

Madonna fans vented their anger after the singer ended a special intimate show at Paris Olympia after just 45 minutes

Madonna fans vented their anger after the singer ended a special intimate show at Paris Olympia after just 45 minutes

“I know that I have made a certain Marine Le Pen very angry with me,” Madonna told fans.

“It’s not my intention to make enemies. It’s my intention to promote tolerance,” she continued.

Afterwards 33-year-old Guillaume Delaval complained: “She spoke for 15 minutes about tolerance, it’s not the UN here.”

Paris resident Allain Zambrana, 26, from Nicaragua, said he wanted to ask for his money back.

“I felt very frustrated because I camped out on the streets and then the show just ends like that.”

Several fans cried “refund!” as they realized Madonna had left the stage for good, with some audience members taking to Twitter to complain.

“We are singing <<shame on you>>,” explained Pierre from Belgium.

“Because she says she loves her fans but then she does this.”

Dutch fan Ellis Van Zoen, 22, agreed the show was “very short”, but added: “I’m torn – I thought it was a fantastic show and it was special. I don’t want to see fans yelling at her but I can understand why.”

Madonna also offered veiled criticism of the party’s anti-immigrant stance, as she paid homage to a France which she said had once “opened its arms to minorities”.

“We are entering some very scary times in the world,” she told the crowd.

“People are afraid, and what happens when people are afraid? They say <<get out! You’re the reason. You’re the problem. You’re to blame>>.”

Madonna, 53, who performed in an array of outfits including a black leather pencil skirt and French beret, also paid tribute to several French artists.

The event was also streamed live on YouTube, where separate footage showed fans chanting and booing while throwing empty bottles and cups onto the stage after the singer had left.

Madonna is due to perform in France again on 21 August, in Nice.

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Madonna has spoken about an image used during her current MDNA tour which showed a swastika imposed onto the face of French politician Marine Le Pen.

The controversial symbol was included in a video accompanying the song Nobody Knows Me, as she performed in Paris.

It showed the face of Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front party, with a swastika on her forehead.

Interviewed for a Brazilian TV channel, Madonna said all images used were chosen “purposefully”.

“That film that was created is about the intolerance that we human beings have for one another and how much we judge people before knowing them,” she said.

Madonna has spoken about an image used during her current MDNA tour which showed a swastika imposed onto the face of French politician Marine Le Pen

Madonna has spoken about an image used during her current MDNA tour which showed a swastika imposed onto the face of French politician Marine Le Pen

France’s National Front party (FN) said it planned to sue the US singer following the use of the image at her concert in the Stade de France on 14 July.

The video had already appeared earlier in Madonna’s 30-nation MDNA world tour, sparking a warning from Marine Le Pen that she was considering legal action.

FN vice-president Florian Philippot said the party could not accept “such an odious comparison”.

But Madonna refused to edit the video and, speaking before her concert in Brazil, the singer said “all images in the video were chosen purposefully”.

“There seems to be a growing intolerance around the world. In Greece, France, everywhere people are trying to kick out all the immigrants, make people cover up and not show what their religious affiliation is.”

“Think about what’s going on in Russia towards the gay community,” she said.

“I’m calling attention to that intolerance and asking people to pay attention, to wake up to see how we are just creating more chaos in the world.”

Displaying the swastika image has not been the only controversy on Madonna’s MDNA tour.

During her show in Edinburgh on 21 July, Madonna defied warnings not to brandish a gun during her performance following the recent shootings at a cinema screening of Batman in Colorado.

Madonna said she believed it is an artist’s responsibility to call attention to world events “and to help bring people together”.

“Art is there to track what’s going on in the world, to make social commentary,” she said.

 

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French far-right National Front is to sue Madonna after an image at the singer’s concert in Paris showed party leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika imposed on her face.

National Front vice-president Florian Philippot said the party could not accept “such an odious comparison”.

The image, in a video accompanying the song Nobody Knows Me, was followed by another resembling Adolf Hitler.

Madonna was performing at the Stade de France in a Paris suburb on Saturday.

National Front is to sue Madonna after showing Marine Le Pen with a swastika during her concert in Paris

National Front is to sue Madonna after showing Marine Le Pen with a swastika during her concert in Paris

Florian Philippot said the lawsuit would be filed this week.

The video had already appeared earlier in Madonna’s 30-nation MDNA world tour, sparking a warning from Marine Le Pen that she was considering legal action.

Florian Philippot said: “This is just another provocation in Madonna’s world tour so that people will talk about her.

“Marine Le Pen will defend not only her own honor but her supporters and the millions of National Front voters.”

Marine Le Pen won 18% of the vote in the first round of France’s presidential election and has tried to remove extremist elements and crack down on anti-Semitism.

However, the National Front won only two seats in the 577-member National Assembly in last month’s general election.

Madonna is due to perform in France again on 21 August, in Nice.

 

France is voting in parliamentary elections expected to determine the extent and pace of reform under new President Francois Hollande.

Voting for the lower house is beginning with a first round, followed by run-offs a week later.

Correspondents say if Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party can win a majority, he will have the mandate to push through bold tax and spend policies.

There is also a closely watched battle between the far right and the far left.

The far-right National Front is hoping to follow up a strong performance in the recent presidential election by gaining its first presence in the 577-seat National Assembly since the 1980s.

France is voting in parliamentary elections expected to determine the extent and pace of reform under new President Francois Hollande

France is voting in parliamentary elections expected to determine the extent and pace of reform under new President Francois Hollande

With the senate already under the control of the Socialists, a majority in the lower house would give Francois Hollande unprecedented power to force through his reform programme.

Francois Hollande’s government is due to present a revised budget plan to parliament next month.

The result of the parliamentary election will determine the pace of reform and how radical it becomes.

If the left fails to win, France would enter into a period of “cohabitation”, in which the presidency and the lower house are controlled by political rivals.

The right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) – the party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy – is defending an absolute majority in the current National Assembly.

The party has concluded an electoral agreement with its centrist Radical Party and New Centre allies.

With the parliamentary polls coming hot on the heels of April’s presidential election, there have been concerns over voter turnout.

Speaking on Thursday, Francois Hollande said: “I call on the French to vote. I call on them to give a large majority, a solid and coherent one.”

One of the main stories of the presidential election was the third place finish of the National Front’s Marine Le Pen.

The far right’s strongest chances of success in this poll are in a string of constituencies in the north and southeast.

The key battle is in the northern industrial town of Henin Beaumont where Marine Le Pen faces the flamboyant leader of the far left, Jean Luc Melenchon.

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Madonna was today threatened with legal action and accused of being an ageing self-publicist after she depicted Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s National Front, as a Nazi during a concert in Israel.

An image of Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead appeared on a giant screen at the singer’s concert in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday.

Marine Le Pen has threatened to sue Madonna if she repeats the stunt when her tour reaches France in July.

The politician said: “We understand how old singers who need to get people talking about them go to such extremes.”

Asked if she was likely to sue, Marine Le Pen, 43, said: “If she does that in France, we’ll be waiting.”

Madonna, who will turn 54 in August, is due in France next month, when she will appear at the Stade de France in Paris and then in Nice on the Riviera.

Madonna was today threatened with legal action and accused of being an ageing self-publicist after she depicted Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s National Front, as a Nazi during a concert in Israel

Madonna was today threatened with legal action and accused of being an ageing self-publicist after she depicted Marine Le Pen, the head of France’s National Front, as a Nazi during a concert in Israel

Other sources in the National Front, which has frequently been linked with anti-Semitism and racism, said Madonna had offended all of its members.

“We are not a Nazi party, and object to being depicted as such,” said a source in the party, which won a fifth of the popular vote during the first round of presidential elections in April.

“If you accuse the National Front of being anti-Semitic and racist then you accuse a fifth of the French people of being anti-Semitic and racist.

“If Madonna repeats this slur in France then she will certainly be taken to court.”

Wallerand de Saint-Just, the National Front’s lawyer, confirmed he was looking into the possibility of legal action.

Marine Le Pen pledged to reform the party after taking over the leadership from her notorious father, Jean-Marie Le Pen last year.

He is a convicted racist and anti-Semite who has in the past denied that the Nazi Holocaust actually took place during World War II.

Despite this, Jean-Marie Le Pen came runner-up in the French presidential election in 2002, proving that he had widespread support.

Marine Le Pen has toned down the party’s extremist views, but regularly pledges to limit Muslim immigration, and to clamp down on Islamic culture in France.

Madonna’s depiction of Marine Le Pen appeared as she performed her song Nobody Knows Me in Tel Aviv last Thursday.

Madonna is well known for her provocative acts, and is currently dating a Frenchman called Brahim Zaibat who has a North African Muslim immigrant background.

Marine Le Pen won just under 18% of votes in the presidential election and is currently standing to become an MP in France’s National Assembly.

 

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to cast a blank vote in Sunday’s French presidential poll run-off.

Marine Le Pen told a rally of her National Front party that she could back neither incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy nor Socialist Francois Hollande and told supporters to follow their conscience.

Marine Le Pen won 6.5 million votes – 17.9% – in the first round of the election.

The latest opinion polls suggest Francois Hollande has a six to 10 point lead over President Sarkozy.

Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy will go head-to-head in the sole televised election debate on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Marine Le Pen led her National Front party’s annual rally to its climax at the Place de l’Opera in the French capital.

Marine Le Pen was addressing supporters after winning a record number of votes for her party in the first round of the presidential election and after taking over from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, just over a year ago.

“On Sunday, I will vote blank,” she told the rally.

“I have made my choice. Each of you will make yours.”

Marine Le Pen told a rally of her National Front party that she could back neither incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy nor Socialist Francois Hollande and told supporters to follow their conscience

Marine Le Pen told a rally of her National Front party that she could back neither incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy nor Socialist Francois Hollande and told supporters to follow their conscience

Marine Le Pen praised the campaign her party had run, saying it had touched the spirit of the French people.

“We have become the centre of gravity for French politics,” she said.

Marine Le Pen said a “great project of emancipation” had begun and nothing would be the same again.

She rounded on both Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Marine Le Pen said Nicolas Sarkozy’s recent policy switches had contradicted his actions over his five-year term and he was not fit to be president.

Opinion polls suggest about 50% of National Front voters will back the president, about 30% will abstain and about 15% will support Francois Hollande.

Nicolas Sarkozy is holding a large rally on Tuesday in Trocadero Square, Paris, which he says is a showcase of “real work”.

This has irritated unions as it carries the implication that Left-wing unions – who are holding their own May Day rally – do not understand the value of work.

Meanwhile, Francois Hollande told supporters in the central town of Nevers: “French people want change.”

He added that now he was no longer the candidate of the Socialist Party but the candidate of “the whole united Left”.

After the first round on 22 April, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon – who polled 11% of the vote – told his supporters to rally behind Francois Hollande in the second round.

Francois Hollande has chosen not to attend the unions’ rally at the Bastille, which will be addressed by Socialist Party secretary Martine Aubry.

Large numbers of workers and union members are marking May Day with marches and rallies across the country.

Nicolas Sarkozy continued to court far-right voters on Tuesday in an interview on the RMC radio station, saying France had too many immigrants.

He said: “Our system of integration doesn’t work. Why? Because before we were able to integrate those who were received on our territory, others arrived. Having taken in too many people, we paralyzed our system of integration.”

 

President Nicolas Sarkozy faces an uphill struggle in the second round of the French presidential election, after coming second in Sunday’s first vote.

Nicolas Sarkozy won 27.1% of the vote, while his Socialist rival Francois Hollande took 28.6%, the first time a sitting president has lost in the first round.

Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy will face each other in a second round of voting on 6 May.

Third-place Marine Le Pen took the largest share of the vote her far-right National Front has ever won, with 18%.

Francois Hollande’s narrow victory in this round gives him crucial momentum ahead of the run-off in two weeks’ time.

Nicolas Sarkozy, leader of the ruling centre-right UMP, will now need to woo the far-right voters who backed Marine Le Pen if he is to hold on to the presidency. But Francois Hollande remains the front runner.

Around one in five people voted for the National Front candidate, including many young and working class voters, putting her ahead of seven other candidates.

The election has been dominated by economic issues, with voters concerned with sluggish growth and rising unemployment.

Marine Le Pen, who campaigned on a nationalist, anti-immigration platform, said she would wait until May Day next week to give her view on the second round.

She told jubilant supporters that the result was “only the start” and that the party was now “the only opposition” to the Left.

Opinion polls taken after voting on Sunday suggested that between 48 and 60% of Le Pen voters would switch to backing Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round.

But pollsters also predict a large abstention rate in the second round.

Nearly a fifth of voters backed a party – the National Front – that wants to ditch the euro and return to the franc.

President Nicolas Sarkozy faces an uphill struggle in the second round of the French presidential election, after coming second in Sunday's first vote

President Nicolas Sarkozy faces an uphill struggle in the second round of the French presidential election, after coming second in Sunday's first vote

But polls suggest Francois Hollande will comfortably win the second round.

As the results came in, he said he was “best placed to become the next president of the republic” and that Nicolas Sarkozy had been punished by voters.

“The choice is simple, either continue policies that have failed with a divisive incumbent candidate or raise France up again with a new, unifying president,” Francois Hollande said.

It is the first time a French president running for re-election has failed to win the first round since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

Nicolas Sarkozy – in power since 2007 – said he understood “the anguish felt by the French” in a “fast-moving world”.

He called for three debates during the two weeks to the second round – centring on the economy, social issues, and international relations.

Francois Hollande promptly rejected the idea. He told reporters that the traditional single debate ahead of the second round was sufficient, and that it should “last as long as necessary”.

Turnout on Sunday was high, at more than 80%.

Marine Le Pen achieved more than the breakthrough score polled in 2002 by her father and predecessor, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who got through to the second round with more than 16%.

Leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who was backed by the Communist Party, came fourth with almost 12%.

He urged his supporters unconditionally to rally behind Francois Hollande in the run-off.

Centrist Francois Bayrou, who was hoping to repeat his high 2007 score of 18%, garnered only about 9%.

If Nicolas Sarkozy cannot change the minds of a substantial number of people, he will become the first sitting president to lose an election since 1981.

Wages, pensions, taxation, and unemployment have been topping the list of voters’ concerns.

Nicolas Sarkozy has promised to reduce France’s large budget deficit and to tax people who leave the country for tax reasons.

Francois Hollande has strongly criticized Nicolas Sarkozy’s economic record.

The Socialist candidate has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1 million Euros a year.

He also wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.

If elected, Francois Hollande would be France’s first left-wing president since Francois Mitterrand, who completed two seven-year terms between 1981 and 1995.

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