France begins voting in presidential polls

Voters headed to the polls on Sunday for the first round of France's presidential election that many analysts believe is expected to mark the end of Nicolas Sarkozy’s turbulent term in office. Predictions of a high abstention rate and strong protest votes have left the outcome uncertain, but recent opinion polls pointed to the right-wing incumbent coming second to his Socialist challenger Francois Hollande. The two 57-year-old political veterans will thus face each other head-to-head in a May 6 run-off, which will decide who runs what is commonly regarded as the world’s fifth greatest power for the next five years. Polling began Saturday in France’s far-flung overseas territories, and got underway on the European mainland at 8am (0600 GMT) on Sunday. It was to continue until 6pm in most of the country, and 8pm in major cities. French polling agencies are permitted to take samples directly from ballot boxes, so accurate voting estimates are made public immediately after polls close. More than 44 million voters are registered but pollsters predict around 25 percent will abstain, a high level by the standards of a French presidential poll and a source of worry to the candidates, especially Hollande. France’s feeble economy could make Sarkozy the country’s first president to lose a fight for re-election in more than 30 years. In a contest driven as much by a dislike of Sarkozy’s showy style and his failure to bring down unemployment as by policy differences, Sarkozy and Hollande are pegged to beat eight other candidates to go through to a May 6 runoff, where polls give Hollande a double-digit lead. Hollande promises less drastic spending cuts than Sarkozy and wants higher taxes on the wealthy to fund state-aided job creation, in particular a 75 percent upper tax rate on income above 1 million euros ($1.32 million). He would become France’s first left-wing president since Francois Mitterand, who beat incumbent Valery Giscard-d’Estaing in 1981. Sarkozy says he is a safer pair of hands for future economic turmoil but many of the workers and young voters drawn to his 2007 pledge of more pay for more work are deserting him as jobless claims have hit their highest level in 12 years. Many French people also express a distaste for a president who has come to be seen as flashy following his highly publicisied marriage to supermodel Carla Bruni early in his term, occasional rude outbursts in public and his chumminess with rich executives. “We have to get rid of Sarkozy,” said Marc Boitel, a trombone player taking part in a street protest ahead of Sunday's vote. “People just want jobs.”