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Sarkozy, Royal Tied in French Election
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The two main contenders in France's presidential campaign are even, according to a poll by CSA released by Le Parisien. 31 per cent of respondents would support Nicolas Sarkozy of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), and 31 per cent would vote for Ségolène Royal of the Socialist Party (PS).
Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front (FN) is in third place with 14 per cent, followed by Union for French Democracy (UDF) leader François Bayrou, Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) member Olivier Besancenot, and Arlette Laguiller of Workers' Struggle (LO) all with five per cent.
Support is lower for Movement for France (MPF) leader Philippe de Villiers, Marie-George Buffet of the French Communist Party (PCF) and Dominique Voynet of the Greens (Verts).
Sarkozy currently serves as France's interior minister. Royal is the leader of the regional government of Poitou-Charentes. In a prospective run-off scenario, Royal holds a six-point advantage over Sarkozy.
On Apr. 28, French prime minister Dominique de Villepin issued a statement admitting he had authorized a series of investigations into corruption allegations related to Luxembourg-based financial firm Clearstream during his time as foreign minister. However, de Villepin denied having personally ordered a probe into Sarkozy's alleged involvement.
The UMP's Jacques Chirac won the presidential ballot in 1995, and was re-elected in a run-off over Le Pen in May 2002. The next election is tentatively scheduled for April 2007.
Polling Data
Among the following candidates, for whom would there be the most chances than you vote with the first turn of the presidential election?
Apr. 2006 | Mar. 2006 | Feb. 2006 | |
Nicolas Sarkozy | 31% | 34% | 31% |
Ségolène Royal | 31% | 27% | 28% |
Jean-Marie Le Pen | 14% | 12% | 9% |
François Bayrou | 5% | 8% | 9% |
Olivier Besancenot | 5% | 6% | 6% |
Arlette Laguiller | 5% | 5% | 4% |
Philippe de Villiers | 4% | 3% | 7% |
Marie-George Buffet | 3% | 4% | 4% |
Dominique Voynet | 2% | 1% | 2% |
Run-Off Scenario
Apr. 2006 | Mar. 2006 | Jan. 2006 | |
Ségolène Royal | 53% | 52% | 51% |
Nicolas Sarkozy | 47% | 48% | 49% |
Source: CSA / La Parisien
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 878 French adults, conducted on Apr. 18 and Apr. 19, 2006. No margin of error was provided.