"LandepNews"
Nicolas Sarkozy
In a poll released on Monday evening, carried out by Ifop Fiducial on March 11 and 12, Sarkozy enjoys the vote of 28.5% of the voters, while Francois Hollande would be voted by 27%, if first round of elections were held this week. Sarkozy won 1.5 percent since the last polls on February 23 and 27, and Francois Hollande lost 1.5 percent.
Far-right candidate Marie Le Pen lost one point and fell to 16% of the votes, while Francois Bayrou, the centrist candidate, raised to 13%, by gaining 0.5 percent.
Wall Street Journal reports that the pollster surveyed 1,638 people aged 18, on the internet and by telephone. If the election in late April does not offer a president, the runoffs would decide the president in early May.
The poll shows that in spite of this result, Francois Hollande would still win the runoff by 54.5% to 45.5%. In late February, Hollande had 56.5%, while Sarkozy was voted by 43.5%.
Reuters is of the opinion that the stresser that boosted confidence in Sarkozy was the announcement made by Marie Le Pen, the candidate that runs for the far right and is credited with 16 percent of the votes.
Le Pen said that she found the 500 official sponsors that would allow her to compete in the presidential elections. The candidates had until Friday to secure their sponsors for the first election on April 22.
Sarkozy brought a new morale boost to his campaign when he addressed some topics that are more familiar to the far-right, such as cutting down on the immigration and the protection of the local companies.
In a bid that is highly unlikely to result in a real political action, Sarkozy told some 30,000 people on Sunday that, if need be, France would exit the Schengen zone in order to have the immigration cut down.
His promise, if carried out, would bring down the 27-year common space within the European Union, which is the second most important achievement of the European Union after the common currency.
Schengen zone is a common European space, where people from the member countries can travel and settle without any visa or paper check. The Schengen zone erase the borders between member states, making it possible for the people to move in any part they want to.
The only two countries that are not part of Schengen zone while being members of the European Union are Romania and Bulgaria, whose admission to this space has been postponed until September, because they have corruption issues to solve, and must show that they can protect the outer border of the European Union.
The Schengen zone was brought into question by the Western states last year, when a flux of people from North Africa came to the shores of Italy, after the Arab Spring. There were voices then that argued in favor of restricting the passage from Italy to other countries, so that the EU may not be flooded with illegal immigrants.
In his speech, Sarkozy said he would propose the cutting down on immigration, and if no decision would be made by the leaders of the European Union, then he would withdraw France from the zone until the problem was tackled at European level.
He argued that the current situation risks collapsing the entire structure of social services in Europe, and makes it impossible for the receiving countries to accommodate all the new comers.
As for the protection of the local businesses, Sarkozy that an act similar to the American “Buy American Act” must be passed in Europe, to protect the local companies and direct the consumers toward the European products.
Sarkozy said that it was no use opening the European market to economies which do not open their own market to Europe.
The promises Sarkozy made were criticized by Francois Hollande, who said that Sarkozy was being hypocritical, and that he had promised something he could not deliver. Hollande came under Sarkozy’s criticism on more than one occasion for having obsolete ideas, which, in Sarkozy’s view, were not going to bolster the European development.
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