The First Round Of French Election Results

This article describes the political situation in France following the first round of elections. There will be a face off between the socialist candidate, Hollande, and the incumbent President Sarkozy. The strong showing of the right wing candidate may help Sarkozy if he can siphon off some the votes from those who agree with him on several law and order issues. On the other hand, Sorkozy has lost much of his popular appeal.

The political mood in France reflects the tensions in the eurozone between those who believe that austerity is the solution to rising sovereign debt, and those who would like to grow their way out of the debt problem. More generally, however, there seems to be a concern that the problems faced by the national government will not be resolved by the election. Some of the issues are eurozone issues, but there is also a concern that the political system is not capable of responding to the divisive issues that have emerged in many of the advanced economies, including France.