In the first round of voting on Sunday to decide who will become the next president of France, the Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, came in first with 28.6 percent of the vote, followed closely by current President Nicolas Sarkozy at 27.2 percent. Although polls indicate that Sarkozy is likely to be defeated by Holland in a May 6 run-off election that will decide the ultimate winner, LIGNET believes Sarkozy still has some hope of pulling off a narrow victory.

The most important development from the first round of the French presidential election was the surprise performance of the far right candidate Marine Le Pen, who captured more votes than expected, while the far left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, proved a disappointment. This enthusiasm gap — far right versus far left — could help Sarkozy pull out a comeback victory, assuming he is able to tap into its energy.