Official campaigning for France's presidential election kicked off on Monday, with rightwinger Nicolas Sarkozy and socialist Segolene Royal narrowly leading the four main contenders.
Two weeks ahead of the April 22 first round, the race remained wide open, with a record 42 percent of voters -- 18 million people -- still undecided, a CSA poll showed.
The vote is guaranteed to usher in a new generation of leaders at a time when France grapples with high unemployment, sluggish growth and simmering social tension that spilled over into riots in 2005.
From Monday, official rules came into effect for campaign broadcasts, strictly dividing radio and TV airtime between all 12 contenders.
Posters went up outside polling stations and the candidates embarked on a hectic series of public rallies and stump meetings which will continue until April 20 at midnight.
in the lead
Sarkozy, 52, a tough-on-crime former interior minister, is the favorite at the moment, ahead of the 53-year-old Royal -- a Socialist mother-of-four who portrays herself as a nurturing figure.
All polls put Sarkozy in the lead for the first round, with 28 percent to 30 percent of voting intentions, and surveys suggest he would easily beat Royal if the pair make it to the run-off vote on May 6.
A poll conducted by CSA over the weekend showed that 59 percent of the French expect Sarkozy to be the next president.
But Royal faces a tough rearguard battle to secure her own place in the May 6 divider.
The 55-year-old centrist Francois Bayrou -- who polls suggest would beat Sarkozy in a run-off -- has been nipping at Royal's heels on around 20 percent compared to her 22 percent to 26 percent.
uproar
Far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who stunned the nation when he made it to second place in the 2002 election, is also heading into the final stretch in fighting spirit, credited with between 13 percent and 16 percent of votes.
The 78-year-old National Front leader repeated on Sunday he was confident of making it into a run-off against Sarkozy.
Until now, Sarkozy has kept the upper hand despite swinging the focus of his campaign onto the question of national identity, seen as a ploy to fish for votes among Le Pen supporters.
He sparked a fresh uproar among scientists and the Catholic Church at the weekend for arguing that pedophilia was genetically predetermined -- prompting Royal's camp to demand an explanation on Monday.
broadcasts
Sarkozy's first official campaign broadcast -- broadcast on French public radio and TV stations early on Monday -- focused on jobs, education, pensions and health.
Royal, in a highly-personal two-minute film, spoke directly to the camera of her background, her family situation as her personality as a woman politician.
Each of the 12 candidates has 45 minutes of airtime, divided into three clips of one, two and five-and-a-half minutes, which will be broadcast in rotation over the next fortnight.
The remaining contenders are the farmer-activist Jose Bove, three Trotskyites, a Communist, a Green, a hunters' candidate who defends the rural way of life and a Catholic nationalist.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese