France election: Hollande and Sarkozy in run-off vote

 

In the first round, socialist Francois Hollande won 28.6% of the vote, ahead of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on 26.2%.

Rising unemployment and the euro crisis have dominated the campaign.

They differ sharply on the eurozone crisis. Mr Hollande wants to rework a deal brokered by President Sarkozy to tackle government debt in Europe.

Mr Hollande, hoping to become the first socialist to win a French presidential election since 1988, cast his vote on Sunday morning in the central town of Tulle, his political heartland.

"It's going to be a long day," he told reporters at the polling station. "It's up to the French people to decide if it's going to be a good day."

Mr Sarkozy, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni, voted in a chic district in Paris but made no comment.

By midday, turnout stood at 30.66%, according to the French interior ministry.

Most polls in mainland France and Corsica close at 18:00 (16:00 GMT), but voting stations in big cities will remain open for another two hours.

On Wednesday the two rivals took part in a testy debate, watched by an estimated 17.9 million people, and continued to campaign until Friday.

Casting for votes

In the final days, each stepped up his appeals to voters who backed far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Francois Bayrou in the first round.

Ms Le Pen, who attracted 6.4 million voters, has said she would cast a blank ballot but called on supporters to "vote according to their conscience".

Mr Bayrou, who attracted almost 9% of the first-round vote on 22 April, said he would back Mr Hollande in the second.

The socialist candidate has also been endorsed by hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who won 11% of the vote.

President Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, has promised to reduce France's large budget deficit and to tax people who leave the country for tax reasons.

Mr Hollande, for his part, has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year.

He wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.

If elected, Mr Hollande would be France's first left-wing president since Francois Mitterrand, who completed two seven-year terms between 1981 and 1995.

It would also be the first time an incumbent president has lost a re-election bid in France since Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1981.

The presidential vote will be followed by a parliamentary election in June

 

프랑스 대선 결선투표일인 6일 집권당 대중운동연합(UMP) 후보인 니콜라 사르코지 대통령과 사회당의 올랑드 후보는 각각 자신의 지역에서 소중한 한 표를 행사했다.

당선이 유력시되고 있는 올랑드 후보는 이날 오전(현지시간) 10시30분께 자신의 정치적 고향인 중부도시 튈에서 지지자들과 함께 투표했다.

회색 정장 차림의 올랑드 후보는 투표소에서 일반인들과 함께 줄을 서서 기다리며 담소를 나누기도 했다.

올랑드 후보는 투표 후 기자들에게 "오늘은 꽤 긴 날이 될 것"이라며 "프랑스가 좋은 시절이 되는지 결정하는 것은 프랑스 국민에게 달려 있다"고 말했다.

집권당 대중운동연합(UMP) 후보인 니콜라 사르코지 대통령도 이날 오전 11시50분께 파리 16구에서 투표를 마쳤다고 유럽1 라디오방송이 보도했다.

부인 카를라 브루니 여사와 함께 투표한 사르코지 대통령은 수백명의 지지자들에게 손을 들어 인사한 뒤 자리를 떴다.

올랑드에게 투표했다는 파리의 한 30대 유권자는 "올랑드가 대통령이 돼 사회적 정의와 일관성 있는 정치를 구현하기를 바란다"고 말했다.

다른 40대 유권자는 "사르코지를 지지했다"면서 "사르코지가 재선에 성공해야 경제위기에서 벗어날 가능성이 있다"고 말했다.