Big turnout in French polls

PARIS – French voters turned out in force yesterday in a presidential election offering divergent choices for the future, with conservative front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy urging the French to work more and Socialist Segolene Royal pledging to safeguard welfare protections.

Surveys suggest Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, has a strong edge over Royal, who would become France’s first female president if she wins. The most recent survey, taken by Ipsos/Dell on Friday, said he was leading 55 per cent to her 45 per cent.By 10h00GMT, turnout was over 34 per cent, the highest midday rate in 33 years, the Interior Ministry said.Results will be announced after the polls close at 18h00 GMT.Both Sarkozy, who says he had to fight harder because of his foreign roots, and Royal, a mother of four who says she had to overcome sexism, are originals in French politics and energised an electorate craving new direction.Whoever wins, the race marks a generational shift, because a 50-something will replace 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, in office for 12 years.But Sarkozy and Royal, nicknamed Sarko and Sego, have radically different formulas for how to revive France’s sluggish economy, reverse its declining clout in world affairs and improve the lives of the impoverished residents of housing projects where largely minority youth rioted in 2005.Sarkozy, 52, says France’s 35-hour work week is absurd and proposes relaxing labour laws to encourage hiring.A former interior minister, Sarkozy cracked down on drunk driving, crime and illegal immigration.He is an admirer of the United States who has borrowed from some American policy ideas.Tough-talking and blunt, he alienated many in France’s housing projects when he called young delinquents “scum.”Police were quietly keeping watch for possible unrest Sunday night in France’s poor, predominantly immigrant neighbourhoods if Sarkozy is elected.Authorities in the Seine-Saint-Denis region northeast of Paris – the epicentre of the 2005 rioting – refused officers’ requests for days off Sunday, one official said.At a polling station near Paris’ Champs-Elysees, Anne Combemale said she voted for Sarkozy because of his market-oriented economic platform.”He has the willpower to change France,” said Combemale, 43, who is unemployed.To push through change, the winner will need a majority in French legislative elections in June.Sarkozy has drawn up a whirlwind programme for his first 100 days in office and plans to put big reforms before parliament at a special session in July: One bill would make overtime pay tax-free to encourage people to work more, and another would put in place tougher sentencing for repeat offenders.Nampa-APThe most recent survey, taken by Ipsos/Dell on Friday, said he was leading 55 per cent to her 45 per cent.By 10h00GMT, turnout was over 34 per cent, the highest midday rate in 33 years, the Interior Ministry said.Results will be announced after the polls close at 18h00 GMT.Both Sarkozy, who says he had to fight harder because of his foreign roots, and Royal, a mother of four who says she had to overcome sexism, are originals in French politics and energised an electorate craving new direction.Whoever wins, the race marks a generational shift, because a 50-something will replace 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, in office for 12 years.But Sarkozy and Royal, nicknamed Sarko and Sego, have radically different formulas for how to revive France’s sluggish economy, reverse its declining clout in world affairs and improve the lives of the impoverished residents of housing projects where largely minority youth rioted in 2005.Sarkozy, 52, says France’s 35-hour work week is absurd and proposes relaxing labour laws to encourage hiring.A former interior minister, Sarkozy cracked down on drunk driving, crime and illegal immigration.He is an admirer of the United States who has borrowed from some American policy ideas.Tough-talking and blunt, he alienated many in France’s housing projects when he called young delinquents “scum.”Police were quietly keeping watch for possible unrest Sunday night in France’s poor, predominantly immigrant neighbourhoods if Sarkozy is elected.Authorities in the Seine-Saint-Denis region northeast of Paris – the epicentre of the 2005 rioting – refused officers’ requests for days off Sunday, one official said.At a polling station near Paris’ Champs-Elysees, Anne Combemale said she voted for Sarkozy because of his market-oriented economic platform.”He has the willpower to change France,” said Combemale, 43, who is unemployed.To push through change, the winner will need a majority in French legislative elections in June.Sarkozy has drawn up a whirlwind programme for his first 100 days in office and plans to put big reforms before parliament at a special session in July: One bill would make overtime pay tax-free to encourage people to work more, and another would put in place tougher sentencing for repeat offenders.Nampa-AP