NEWS,06.05.2012.

France holds breath ahead of tight vote

 

France held its breath on Saturday on the eve of a presidential election that Socialist Francois Hollande was predicted to win despite incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy closing the gap after wooing the far-right.Political speeches and new opinion polls have been banned since a particularly ferocious campaign ended on Friday night, but the last poll published ahead of the deadline forecast a 52-48 per cent win for Hollande.The Ifop-Fiducial poll said Sarkozy has clawed back six percentage points of voter intentions since the end of last week as he went all-out to enchant those who voted for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the first round.With the Socialist’s lead the narrowest since campaigning began, Sarkozy has vowed a surprise, while Hollande has stressed that nothing can be assumed about a first Socialist presidential victory in over a quarter century.“Everything is possible on Sunday,” admitted the left-leaning Liberation’s headline, while the pro-Sarkozy Le Figaro’s front page stressed that French citizens had a “historic choice”.“Electing a president is not a beauty contest,” warned a Le Figaro editorial, apparently targeting Hollande’s image as a soft and convivial consensus builder without ministerial experience.Liberation skewered Sarkozy for dragging his UMP party ever further to the right as he courted National Front voters, vowing to defend French values, limit immigration and strengthen France’s borders. “Whatever the outcome, the political landscape will remain profoundly, durably and dangerously transformed,” it said. French overseas territories were voting on Saturday, before the mass of some 46 million voters goes to the polls on Sunday.Hollande was spending Saturday with his partner Valerie Trierwiler in his political heartland Tulle in central France, while Sarkozy was with his wife, former supermodel Carla Bruni, and their baby daughter Giulia.Hollande won the April 22 first round with 28.63 per cent of the votes to Sarkozy’s 27.18 percent, and both candidates have been fighting for the votes of those whose candidates failed to make the run-off.Le Pen, who won almost 18 percent in the first round, has said she will cast a blank ballot, and observers expect many of her supporters to do the same.Ifop has forecast however that 55 per cent of her voters would back Sarkozy and 19 per cent Hollande.

 

Cameron hails London mayor win

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday hailed fellow Conservative Boris Johnson's re-election as London mayor but it was the sole bright spot for his party as it took a mid-term beating.In local elections on Friday the opposition Labour party took control of 32 councils and won more than 800 seats at the expense of the Conservatives and their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats."I think it was a very strong campaign by Boris. It was based on his record, on the excellent things he has done out there and I am delighted to congratulate him," said Cameron, standing alongside Johnson at City Hall."It was a campaign the whole Conservative party got behind. I enjoyed campaigning for Boris but now what matters is working together for the good of London, as PM, as mayor, and that is exactly what we are going to do."Eccentric Johnson, famed for his dishevelled blond locks and gift for buffoonery, won 51.5 percent of the vote in a closer-than-expected run-off with rival and predecessor, Labour's Ken Livingstone."It was a very hard-fought long campaign," said Johnson, who will now lead London into the Olympic Games in July."I am grateful to the Conservative Party. They did turn out in large numbers to help me but I think we were able to reach people across the city with a message that resonated with them in tough times."British newspapers said Cameron now faces pressure from the right wing of the Conservative party to ditch policies including support for gay marriage, and bring in more radical tax and spending ideas."Now stand up for Tory values," said the right-leaning Daily Mail newspaper, while the left-leaning Guardian said the "drubbing" also boosted Johnson's own credentials for a possible Conservative leadership challenge.The Conservatives lost 12 councils and more than 400 seats in the local elections while the centrist Lib Dems, led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, lost one council and lost more than 300 seats.Capping a bad month for the government after Britain slid back into recession, Cameron's push to create the posts of elected mayors in England's biggest cities was widely rejected in referendums.