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.
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