2007 French presidential elections
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...
were held in France on 21 and 22 April 2007 to elect the successor to
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
as president of France (and ''ex officio''
Co-Prince of Andorra The co-princes of Andorra are jointly the heads of state ( ca, cap d'estat) of the Principality of Andorra, a landlocked microstate lying in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. Founded in 1278 by means of a treaty between the Bishop of Urg ...
) for a five-year term. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 5 and 6 May 2007 between the two leading candidates,
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
and Ségolène Royal. Sarkozy was elected with 53% of the vote. Sarkozy and Royal both represented a generational change. Both main candidates were born after World War II, along with the first to have seen adulthood under the Fifth Republic, and the first not to have been in politics under
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
.


Schedule

*22 February 2007: The decree convoking the election was published in the
Journal officiel de la République française A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
. *16 March 2007 – 18:00 (16:00 UTC): Deadline for candidates to have obtained the 500 sponsors from elected officials in at least 30 different
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
or overseas territories which are required to run for president. *19 March 2007 – 17:30 (15:30 UTC): Official candidate list was announced by the
Constitutional Council Constitutional Council might refer to: * Constitutional Council (Chad) * Constitutional Council (France) * Constitutional Council (Ivory Coast) * Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka) * Constitutional Council (Cambodia) * Constitutional Council (Kaz ...
: 12 candidates. *9 April 2007: Official campaign started. *20 April 2007: Official campaign ended. *21 April 2007: First round of voting started in Saint Pierre and Miquelon at 8 am local time (10:00 UTC) and subsequently took place in
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
, Martinique, French Guiana,
French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in the Americas. *22 April 2007: First round of voting took place in Wallis and Futuna,
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, Réunion, Mayotte, Metropolitan France, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in Oceania, Asia, Africa and Europe – the last polling stations closed in the large cities of Metropolitan France at 8 pm local time (18:00 UTC) and publication of the first exit polls were allowed immediately after they closed. *25 April 2007: Official results of the first round announced. *27 April 2007: Official candidate list for second round announced. *2 May 2007 – 21:00 (19:00 UTC): Nationally televised debate between the two candidates. *5 May 2007: Second round of voting started in Saint Pierre and Miquelon at 8 am local time (10:00 UTC) and subsequently took place in
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
, Martinique, French Guiana,
French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in the Americas. *6 May 2007: Second round of voting took place in Wallis and Futuna,
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, Réunion, Mayotte, Metropolitan France, and in voting offices in embassies and consulates in Oceania, Asia, Africa and Europe – the last polling stations closed in the large cities of Metropolitan France at 8 pm local time (18:00 UTC) and publication of the first exit polls were allowed immediately after they closed. *10 May 2007: Official results of the second round announced. *16 May 2007 – Midnight (22:00 UTC): Expiration of the term of president
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
.


Electoral system

For the first time in a presidential election, electronic voting was introduced in some areas, having been authorised in 2004. They were introduced in only 82 of 36,000 voting districts, and were criticised by a number of people, both on the left and on the right. A petition against them has also been made (see Wikinews:Electronic voting disputed in France). Using the three colours of the national flag (blue, white, and red) on electoral advertisements or partisan documentation was prohibited by electoral regulations. Ségolène Royal contended that the book ''Ensemble'' ("together") published by Nicolas Sarkozy, whose cover is blue, white and red, is effectively an electoral partisan documentation and should be covered by this prohibition.


Candidates


Requirements

:''Reference
Constitutional Council, FAQ
' The requirements for being successfully nominated as a candidate are defined by the organic law of 6 November 1962. All candidates must be of French nationality and at least 23 years old (the same requirement as for the candidates to the National Assembly). Candidates must obtain signatures from 500 elected officials (mayors, members of Parliament, elected representatives) supporting their candidacy. These signatures from elected officials (informally known in French as ''parrainages'', but legally known as "presentations") must be from at least 30 different
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
or overseas territories, and no more than 10 percent can be from any individual department. A presentation from an elected official does not imply the official supports the policies of the candidate, but rather that this official considers the candidate to be a serious candidate. Candidates must also submit a statement with details of their personal assets. The
Constitutional Council Constitutional Council might refer to: * Constitutional Council (Chad) * Constitutional Council (France) * Constitutional Council (Ivory Coast) * Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka) * Constitutional Council (Cambodia) * Constitutional Council (Kaz ...
published the official candidate list on 20 March 2007. The candidates are listed in a randomised order. This order will be used for the official campaign: thus, posters for Olivier Besancenot will always be on the No. 1 board, those for Marie-George Buffet on the No. 2 board, etc., regardless of where in France the boards are located. There were a total of 12 candidates for the 2007 election.


Leading candidates

Four candidates consistently registered over 10% in the opinion polls and were regarded as having a reasonable chance of reaching the second round. *
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
was nominated by the Union for a Popular Movement on 14 January 2007. He is the leader of the UMP and was
Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
until stepping down to focus on his campaign on 26 March 2007. * Ségolène Royal was selected by the Socialist Party on 17 November 2006 to be the party's candidate for the election. She won 60.6% of the votes in a ballot of party members to choose their candidate, against 20.8% for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and 18.5% for Laurent Fabius. She is the first woman to represent a major French party in a presidential contest. *
François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...
was nominated by the centrist Union for French Democracy (UDF) on 2 December 2006. * Jean-Marie Le Pen ran for the National Front, a far-right party which promotes policies of strong law enforcement, economic protectionism and strong measures to control immigration. As during previous presidential campaigns, Le Pen raised the question of whether he would be able to obtain the necessary 500 signatures on a number of occasions, which he claims is the result of pressure placed on elected officials by the major parties to support their own candidate (he has often claimed, during past elections, that "political elites" have sabotaged his campaigns); however, on 14 March 2007 his party said that he had obtained the necessary signatures. Image: Flickr_-_europeanpeoplesparty_-_EPP_Summit_October_2010_%28105%29.jpg,
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
candidate of the Union for a Popular Movement Image:Meeting Royal 2007 02 06 n11.jpg, Ségolène Royal candidate of the Socialist Party Image:Bayrou-thiez-17-07-2006-054.jpg,
François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...
candidate of the Union for French Democracy Image:Jean-Marie Le Pen 479834203 5030701e77 o.jpg, Jean-Marie Le Pen candidate of the National Front


Other candidates

These were the eight other candidates who obtained the required 500 signatures from elected officials to endorse their candidacy. * Olivier Besancenot: Revolutionary Communist League * José Bové: Leftist environmentalist who ran on an alter-globalisation platform * Marie-George Buffet: Communist Party * Arlette Laguiller: Workers' Struggle * Frédéric Nihous: Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Tradition Party *
Gérard Schivardi Gérard Schivardi (born 17 April 1950) is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party (''Parti des Travailleurs'') of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of ...
: styled himself as "the mayors' candidate", supported by the Workers' Party * Philippe de Villiers: president of the Movement for France party ran on a traditionalist Catholic and
eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
platform, and with a firm anti-Islamic message. *
Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet (born 4 November 1958) is a French politician who is a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens. She is the former mayor of Montreuil and was a French senator for the ''département'' of Seine-Saint-Denis. Life Dominique Voy ...
:
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
. Image:Olivier Besancenot - Airbus public demonstration in Toulouse 0346 2007-03-06.jpg, Olivier Besancenot Image:José Bové - Meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election 0188 2007-04-18 cropped.jpg, José Bové Image:Marie-George Buffet cropped.jpg, Marie-George Buffet Image:Arlette Laguiller - Meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election 0021 2007-04-18.jpg, Arlette Laguiller Image:Frédéric Nihous - Langon 2007 - p1 cropped.jpg, Frédéric Nihous Image:Schivardi écharpe tricolore Bureau Mailhac.jpg,
Gérard Schivardi Gérard Schivardi (born 17 April 1950) is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party (''Parti des Travailleurs'') of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of ...
Image:Philippe de Villiers - Meeting in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election 0165 2007-04-16 cropped.jpg, Philippe de Villiers Image:Dominique Voynet - Anti-EPR demonstration in Toulouse 0025 2007-03-17 cropped.jpg,
Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet (born 4 November 1958) is a French politician who is a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens. She is the former mayor of Montreuil and was a French senator for the ''département'' of Seine-Saint-Denis. Life Dominique Voy ...


Confirmed non-candidates

*President
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
announced on 11 March 2007 that he would not be standing for another term as president. It had been rumoured that President Chirac was considering running for a third term, following statements he made at the beginning of 2007, including his New Year's Address on 31 December 2006, and subsequent speeches which contained robust comments on international policy and detailed national policy proposals with a suggested five-year timetable. In March, Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy. There was no provision at the time in the Constitution of 1958 specifying a limited number of terms, though a third term would have been unprecedented under the Fifth Republic. *
Christine Boutin Christine Boutin (, born 6 February 1944) is a French former politician leading the small French Christian Democratic Party (France), Christian Democratic Party. She served as a member of the French National Assembly representing Yvelines, fro ...
announced that she would not be a candidate for the election and pledged her support for
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
(source: France 2 news, 2 December 2006). *
Rachid Kaci Rashid or Rachid ( ar, راشد ) and Rasheed ( ar, رشيد ), which means "rightly guided", may refer to: *Rashid (name), also Rachid and Rasheed, people with the given name or surname *Rached, a given name and surname *Rashad, a surname Plac ...
, member of the UMP and President of the group Free Right (la Droite Libre), announced his withdrawal as candidate and also pledged to support Nicolas Sarkozy on 21 December 2006 during a UMP public Forum. *MRC chairman
Jean-Pierre Chevènement Jean-Pierre Chevènement (; born 9 March 1939L ...
announced on 10 December 2006 that he would not be running, and that his movement would back Ségolène Royal in return for an electoral agreement in the 2007 general election. *Candidate for the Radical Party, Christiane Taubira in the 2002 election, confirmed that she would not be running following an electoral agreement between her party and the Socialist Party. The Left Radicals in return will support Ségolène Royal. * Nicolas Hulot, television presenter and environmental activist, was widely considered to be a possible candidate following the positive media and public reaction to his recent book and Environmental Charter. On 3 January 2007 '' Le Figaro'' newspaper reported that supporters of Hulot had begun gathering signatures to mount a campaign and a website, was created to generate support. On 22 January he announced that he will not be a candidate. * Corinne Lepage, environmentalist politician and activist, withdrew her candidacy in favour of Bayrou on 10 March 2007. *
Roland Castro Roland Castro (born 16 October 1940) is a French architect and political activist. Biography Roland Castro was born on 16 October 1940 in Limoges. By the end of 1966 he was a member of the editorial committee of ''Melp!'', the École Normale Su ...
, architect and "utopian left" activist, withdrew his candidacy on 12 March 2007. *
Édouard Fillias Édouard Fillias (born 21 April 1979) is a French classical liberal activist of Spanish origin. Biography Born in Paris, Fillias was president of Liberal Alternative and that party's 2007 French Presidential candidate. He is a graduate of Scie ...
: Alternative Libérale, a new French libertarian party, withdrew his candidacy on 13 March 2007 in favour of Bayrou. * Antoine Waechter: Independent Ecological Movement, withdrew his candidacy on 14 March 2007


Did not get enough endorsements

* Yves-Marie Adeline *
Yves Aubry Yves Aubry is a Canadian ornithologist. He graduated from Université Laval. He is co-editor of the ornithology reference, ''"L'Atlas des oiseaux nicheurs du Québec méridional"'', published in 1995. He is a member of Centre d'Étude de la For ...
*
Soheib Bencheikh Soheib Bencheikh (born 20 December 1961, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) is an Islamic religious leader and author and would-be French politician. Bencheikh graduated in Islamic theology at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt, and at the Free University of ...
*
Jacques Cheminade Jacques Cheminade (; born 20 August 1941) is a French-Argentinian political activist. He is the head of Solidarity and Progress, the French arm of the LaRouche movement, and has thrice run for President of France. Education and professional lif ...
* Nicolas Dupont-Aignan: former member of Union for a Popular Movement, announced on RTL radio on 10 January 2007 that he had obtained approximately 310 promises for signatures to validate his candidacy and intended to stand on a '
sovereigntist Sovereigntism, sovereignism or souverainism (from french: souverainisme, , meaning the ideology of sovereignty) is the notion of having control over one's conditions of existence, whether at the level of the self, social group, region, nation o ...
' platform, against further European integration through the EU. * France Gamerre:
Génération Écologie Ecology Generation (french: Génération écologie) is one of the four green parties in France, along with Europe Ecology – The Greens (), the Independent Ecological Movement (), and Cap Écologie. Founded in 1990 by Brice Lalonde, Environment ...
* Nicolas Miguet : right-wing businessman, press publisher and tax protester, he was accused of running a scam in order to obtain the 500 endorsements. He was arrested and freed on bail. Announced that he would support François Bayrou. * Rachid Nekkaz


Campaign

The election campaign raised a number of issues: * Jobs and unemployment – France long had an unemployment rate officially close to 10%, down to below 9% in 2007. Employment, and employment conditions, are a perennial concern for the French (see
Economy of France An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
and Poverty in France). * European disunity – The presidential election followed the
EU Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
rejection vote in 2005, which threw into question the future direction of the European Union. * International politics – A majority in France approved of President
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
's opposition to the
2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
by the United States. Sarkozy was considered as pro-Washington, while Royal, although seen as probably also in line with Washington, is thought to be more moderate. Left-wing intellectual Régis Debray's metaphor was that Sarkozy was like a direct flight to Washington, D.C., while Royal was a flight to Washington with a stop-off in Oslo, referring to her European inclinations. Régis Debray
La Coupe de l'Elysée 2007
'' Le Monde'', 23 February 2007
Chirac's public opposition to the Iraq War should however be relativised, as he toned down his criticisms after a while. Furthermore, he involved French troops in Afghanistan and agreed, immediately after the
11 September 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, on increased cooperation between Western intelligence services, materialised by the creation of
Alliance Base Alliance Base was the cover name for a secret Western Counterterrorist Intelligence Center (CTIC) that existed between 2002 and 2009 in Paris. The existence of CTICs were first revealed by Dana Priest in a November 17, 2005 article in ''The Washing ...
in the centre of Paris, a joint international Counterterrorist Intelligence Centre. * Law and order – During the 2002 campaign, law and order came to the forefront, especially with respect to unruly youths from poor suburbs. In late 2005, in some of these suburbs significant unrest erupted. Again, law and order was a forefront issue, mainstream candidates tackled the problem of reining in unruly youngsters. Sarkozy proposed measures for harsher criminal procedure for youngsters, while Royal proposed to send unruly youths to centres under military discipline. Sarkozy's attitude was widely criticised on the left, and also by the UMP minister
Azouz Begag Azouz Begag ( ar, عزوز بقاق ) (born 5 February 1957) is a French writer, politician and researcher in economics and sociology at the CNRS. He was the delegate minister for equal opportunities of France in the government of French Prime Min ...
, who defected his party to support Bayrou following Sarkozy's management of the autumn 2005 crisis. * Immigration – The issue of
immigration in France According to the French national institute of statistics Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE, the 2018 census counted nearly 9 million immigrants (foreign-born people) in France, representing 14.0% of the to ...
split France. The number of deportations more than doubled since 2002, with Sarkozy as Minister of the Interior from 2002 to 2004 and 2005 to 2007. Sarkozy declared in April 2006 that immigrants who did not "like France" should "leave it." Opponents have labelled Sarkozy's attitude as repressive, in particular towards illegal immigrants, materialised by numerous police raids against
illegal aliens Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
, strongly opposed by the left. The main problem concerns illegal immigrants (''sans-papiers'', "without documents") who cannot obtain work permits without proper immigration documents and are therefore mostly found in the
informal economy An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countrie ...
– construction, restaurants, etc. Although the right of foreigners to vote was a classic claim of the left-wing, it was not an important issue of the campaign. On the other hand, Sarkozy declared himself in favour of affirmative action which was widely contested both on the left and on the right, on grounds that it would favour ''communautarisme'' – separation of communities – along ethnic lines, and that it means taking into account ethnic alleged memberships in statistics, which is legally prohibited and not done by the INSEE. Left-wingers argued in favour of social actions not based on ethnic factors, but on geographical situation and equality of territory; however, the traditional Universalism of the French republicans has also been criticised on the left-wing by some intellectuals supporting a middle-ground between Republican universalism and multiculturalism.
Étienne Balibar Étienne Balibar (; ; born 23 April 1942) is a French philosopher. He has taught at the University of Paris X-Nanterre, at the University of California Irvine and is currently an Anniversary Chair Professor at the Centre for Research in Modern Eu ...

«Royal, pour faire échec à la droite»
''
Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...
'', 6 April 2007
* The Far Right – The National Front, long dismissed as a fringe party, stunned many when its leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, reached the second round of the 2002 elections. Le Pen's points of focus – law and order and immigration – were later taken up by politicians such as Sarkozy. Le Pen on 12 April 2007 criticised Sarkozy for being Hungarian and asked if he should run for the president of Hungary. Le Pen was 79 years old, the same age which
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
was when he stepped down from the presidency in 1969. Le Pen's approval rating in opinion polls markedly increased after France's riots in 2005. As a counterweight, the Left and the cultural elite and athletes (like
Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began playing football professionally in his homeland with Monaco and played in the top flight in France, Italy and Spai ...
) rose to oppose Sarkozy's response to the riots. * Anti-neoliberalism and Disarray of left-wing parties – During the 2002 presidential election, a number of left-wing candidates ran for office, which, according to commentators, was one reason for the defeat of Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin. Jospin blamed in particular
Jean-Pierre Chevènement Jean-Pierre Chevènement (; born 9 March 1939L ...
's candidacy, as well as Christiane Taubira's one. However, others commentators have criticised Jospin's attitude and the policies of the PS, which account, according to them, for the low score of Jospin. Inheritor of the
French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...
(SFIO), the PS is historically social-democrat, while the French Communist Party (PCF) is a governmental party, which participated in Jospin's ''
Gauche plurielle The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), ...
'' (Plural Lefts) government (with ministers such as
Jean-Claude Gayssot Jean-Claude Gayssot (born 6 September 1944, in Béziers, Hérault) is a French politician. A member of the French Communist Party (PCF), he was Minister of Transportation in the government of Lionel Jospin of the Socialist Party from 1997 to ...
, etc.). In this sense, the PCF does not consider itself a far-left party, to the contrary of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) or Workers' Struggle (LO). But the PCF does consider itself part of the " anti-liberal" coalition, which opposed the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE). Inside the
French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste , PS) is a French centre-left and social-democratic political party. It holds pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major p ...
(PS, ''Parti socialiste'') itself, Laurent Fabius headed the minority who opposed the treaty. However, the victory of the "No" during the May 2005 referendum on the TCE hasn't been exploited yet by the left parties or organisations which supported it. The main topic of the non-PS left-wings was to try to choose a single candidate for the "anti-liberal" Left, which opposes neo-liberalism. This eventually failed, and the far-left was represented by four competing candidates, Marie-George Buffet, Olivier Besancenot, José Bové and Arlette Laguiller. " * High-level political scandals and disrepute – A number of scandals tainted various French politicians, including president
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
(see Corruption scandals in the Paris region), with some, such as former prime minister Alain Juppé, being convicted. The recent Clearstream affair had been exposed as a case of forgery and denunciations involved such major politicians from the ruling UMP coalition. * Feminism – France's first woman president had the opportunity to be elected in 2007 – Ségolène Royal, a Socialist, ran following her selection on 16 November 2006 as the candidate for the Socialist Party. * Environment – The environmental party, the Greens, had been low in the polls, but Nicolas Hulot, a presenter of an environmentally themed television show, became very popular and had considered running. Many parties, from the left to the right, were interested in his support. * Labour – Both Royal and Sarkozy called for "
labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
" to be respected as a value, although the meaning of this was somewhat open to very different interpretations. * Housing and homelessness. Following political actions by th
Enfants de Don Quichotte NGO
who set up tents for
homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...
people by the
Canal Saint-Martin The Canal Saint-Martin is a 4.6 km (2.86 mi) long canal in Paris, connecting the Canal de l'Ourcq to the river Seine. Over nearly half its length (), between the Rue du Faubourg du Temple and the Place de la Bastille, it was covered, in the ...
in Paris and elsewhere, in December 2006, the problem of homelessness was at the centre of the campaign for a period of time. The death of veteran campaigner Abbé Pierre a short time afterward increased the focus on the issue. * Religion and communautarisme. Sarkozy has opposed both the left-wing and Chirac on the issue of
religions Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tran ...
, adopting a stance critical of
state secularism A secular state is an idea pertaining to secularity, whereby a state is or purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state claims to treat all its citizens equally regardle ...
and of the 1905 law on Separation of the State and the Church. His creation of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) was strongly criticised as giving an official voice to the more radical sectors of organised Islam. *Bayrou's candidacy.
François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...
, leader of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) centre-right party, decided to present himself as a centrist candidate. He opposed in particular the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party led by Sarkozy. Critics have pointed-out that Bayrou and his party had voted along with the UMP parliamentary majority on nearly all cases. Bayrou's trend is generally considered to be the inheritor of the
Christian-Democrat Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
MRP. *Candidate Gérard Schivardi was banned from calling himself ''le candidat des maires'' ("the candidate of the mayors"). The 2 April 2007 judicial injunction was requested by the Association of French Mayors, who feared that the candidate might be perceived as officially endorsed by the country's
mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...
. As a result, he was unable to use the 25 million electoral flyers already printed, which he claims will cost his campaign €300,000. Thus he styled himself as "the candidates of mayors" or "candidate of some mayors" ("''de'' ''maires"'' rather than "''des'' ''maires"'' – see United Nations Security Council Resolution 242#Semantic dispute for an analogy of this difference between ''de'' and ''des''). *François Bayrou proposed the idea of organising a "debate over the Internet" between the four leading candidates, in order to circumvent the obligation of TV and radio channels to provide equal times to all twelve candidates. However, Nicolas Sarkozy was opposed to such a debate, believing it would be illegal.


Officially proposed policies

*Europe **'' Ségolène Royal'' ( Socialist Party) proposed a referendum on a new European treaty for 2009. She declared she would request guarantees on the social policies followed by the European Union, in particular by reaching an agreement with German chancellor Angela Merkel on the controversial role of the European Central Bank – contrary to the U.S Federal Reserve, the ECB has an ''exclusive role'' to counter inflation. Royal stated she would negotiate with European partners in order to include
economic growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...
and employment as aims within the ECB's policies.)Europe : le programme des candidats
(Royal), '' Le Monde'', 13 March 2007
**''
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
'' ( Union for a Popular Movement) proposed a simplified European treaty which would be ratified by the French Parliament instead of being submitted to a referendum. He also declared himself against the rule of unanimity in European decisions and opposed the accession of Turkey to the European Union.Europe : le programme des candidats
(Sarkozy)'' Le Monde'', 13 March 2007
Furthermore, he said he would argue in favour of revaluing the euro, increasing the European defence budget and creating a European Foreign Affairs Minister.Les principales propositions de Nicolas Sarkozy
, '' Le Monde'', 16 March 2007
*International policies **''Royal'' proposed a new EU-led peace proposal in the Middle East.Royal, Sarkozy and Bayrou: The policies
'' BBC'', 11 April 2007
She also declared herself in favour of a nuclear deterrent power, increased European cooperation on military matters, relaunching the
Euromediterranean Partnership The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM; french: Union pour la Méditerranée, ar, الإتحاد من أجل المتوسط ''Al-Ittiḥād min ajl al-Mutawasseṭ'') is an intergovernmental organization of 43 member states from Europe and the M ...
(Barcelona Process) and promoting
generic drug A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by chemical patents. Generic drugs are allowed for sale after the patents on the original drugs expire. Because the active ch ...
s in developing countries. **''Sarkozy'' pledged to maintain the defence budget at its current level; develop new weapons; create a
national security council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...
, which would respond to the President of the Republic; launch a reflection on nuclear deterrence; limit French military presence in Africa; maintain a firm policy concerning the
Iranian nuclear programme The nuclear program of Iran is an ongoing scientific effort by Iran to research nuclear technology that can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran has several research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor, and uranium processing facilit ...
; enacted in the frame of the UN. *Economic and social policies **''Royal'' promised a
minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
(known as the ''salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance'', or SMIC) of 1,500 euros, with 90 percent of salary for year after losing job. She declared herself for the repeal of the CNE employment contract.Les principales propositions de Ségolène Royal
, '' Le Monde'', 16 March 2007
She declared herself for the reimbursement of public aid to companies who offshored themselves, and would not support with public money firms that implement downsizing plans. **''Sarkozy'' proposed to the contrary to adapt the
35-hour workweek The 35-hour working week is a part of a labour law reform adopted in France in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government. Pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry, it was adopted in two phases: the "Aubry 1" law ...
previously established by PS minister Martine Aubry during Lionel Jospin's government by promoting overtime work. *Energy and environment **''Royal'' stated she would cut dependency on nuclear power and would aim to have
renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
provide at least 20 percent of France's electricity before 2020. She also said she would create a public pole of energy around
EDF EDF may refer to: Organisations * Eclaireurs de France, a French Scouting association * Education for Development Foundation, a Thai charity * Électricité de France, a French energy company ** EDF Energy, their British subsidiary ** EDF Luminus, ...
and GDF (this is directly count to the GDF- Suez merger and announced in 2006 through the government of Dominique de Villepin, which involved
privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
). **''Sarkozy'' said he would develop nuclear technologies and increase the tax on pollution. He also said he would promote international law on
environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
. *Unemployment **''Royal'' promised that no youth will stay unemployed for more than six months without receiving a publicly supported job or training. She also said she would create zero-interest loans to youth. *Health **''Royal'' said she would emphasise
occupational safety and health Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...
; sanction physicians who refuse CMU patients; re-establish free medicine for illegal aliens; create a plan of research on rare diseases; grant a weekly free medical consultation for those 16–25 years old; free
birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
for women under 25. *Housing **''Royal'' declared herself for a construction project of 120,000 council homes a year to cut the "housing crisis" as well as a private rent cap and lifelong guarantee of housing (in the continuation of the debate on the '' droit au logement'', right to housing, on the model of Scotland's 2003 Homelessness Act). She said she would simplify procedures for evicting people who were deliberately not paying their rent; and would facilitate the purchase of council housing by people who have rented it for 15 years. **''Sarkozy'' promised to provide assistance for those who want to buy their council homes and to eradicate
homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...
within two years *Immigration **''Royal'' declared herself in favour of granting residency papers (i.e. of regularisation of the status of illegal aliens) if they have a work permit and reside in France for a sufficient time. **''Sarkozy'' promised to cut immigration flux and favour "chosen immigration" (i.e. "qualified immigration"). *Taxes **''Royal'' said she would not increase general taxation, would lighten burden on employment-creative firms and "consolidate" the 35-hour week, a goal which would pass by decreasing its negative effects. She said she would modulate tax on companies depending on if they use it for re-investment or to redistribute the profits to the shareholders. She also declared she would simplify the procedures to create new firms and better social protection for employers. **''Sarkozy'' promised to cut taxes by four percent, increase the exemption for
inheritance tax An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died. International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
to 95% and grant a "right to work for more than 35 hours.". *Law and order **''Royal'' said she would force young offenders to military-like education. She promised to double the budget of the Minister of Justice, strengthen security on public transport, promote a law against
domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...
, reinforce judicial aid processes and create an independent organ of surveillance of the state of prisons. **''Sarkozy'' declared himself in favour of minimum terms for reoffenders and tougher sentences on juvenile offenders. *Culture and Media **''Royal'' promised to support the tertiary sector of culture. She also pledged to take measures against
concentration of media ownership Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates in ...
and tax private TV companies (
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is par ...
, M6, etc.) to support public companies ( France Télévisions, Arte, etc.). **''Sarkozy'' promised free entry to national museums; to increase the budget of the Minister of Culture; to remove blocks to private patronage of the arts; to force public TV to increase the amount of cultural shows; to support authors' rights (''droit d'auteur'') and other copyright protections ( DADVSI); and to support free software. *Research **''Royal'' said she would increase the research budget by 10% and increase the budget for universities to the extent that, within five years, it would reach the average of OECD countries. **''Sarkozy'' said he would increase by 40% the budget dedicated to research by 2012. *Budget **''Royal'' said a 2.5% expected
economic growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...
would finance her promises. **''Sarkozy'' gave assurances he would cut the costs of the French Civil Service, which account for 45% of the budget. *Institutional reforms **''Royal'' said she would grant the right of foreigners to vote in local elections. She would repeal the veto of the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
in constitutional matters. She declared herself in favour of the addition of a '' laïcité'' charter (secular charter) to the Constitution. **''Sarkozy'' said he would establish minimum service in the public administration (thus restricting
right of strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
); cut unneeded government bodies; increase the productivity of the public administration; insure state expenses by taxes only; a two-term
limit Limit or Limits may refer to: Arts and media * ''Limit'' (manga), a manga by Keiko Suenobu * ''Limit'' (film), a South Korean film * Limit (music), a way to characterize harmony * "Limit" (song), a 2016 single by Luna Sea * "Limits", a 2019 ...
for the president; organise the responsibility of the President before the Parliament; limit the number of ministers to 15; non-replacement of one civil servant out of two which retires and increase of wages and training in the public administration. *LGBT Issues **''Royal'' proposed introducing a bill to legalize same-sex marriage and
gay adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children by same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child ( stepchild adoption). Joint adoption by same-sex co ...
. ** ''Sarkozy'' voiced opposition to both gay marriage and adoption, although he did favour civil unions for same-sex couples. He maintained, however, close ties to MP
Christine Boutin Christine Boutin (, born 6 February 1944) is a French former politician leading the small French Christian Democratic Party (France), Christian Democratic Party. She served as a member of the French National Assembly representing Yvelines, fro ...
, known for her anti-gay views.


Endorsements


French personalities

Approximately 200 French intellectuals expressed support for Ségolène Royal. These included the philosopher
Étienne Balibar Étienne Balibar (; ; born 23 April 1942) is a French philosopher. He has taught at the University of Paris X-Nanterre, at the University of California Irvine and is currently an Anniversary Chair Professor at the Centre for Research in Modern Eu ...
(a student of
Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser ...
), the editor
François Maspero François Maspero (19 January 1932, in Paris – 11 April 2015, in Paris) was a French author and journalist, best known as a publisher of leftist books in the 1970s. He also worked as a translator, translating the works of Joseph Conrad, Mehdi B ...
, the historian Pierre Rosanvallon, the psychanalyst
Fethi Benslama Fethi Benslama (born 1951) is a French psychoanalyst of Tunisian origin. He is a Professor of Psychopathology at Paris Diderot University, and the author of several books about political Islam. Early life Fethi Benslama was born on July 31, 1951 i ...
, the philosopher
Jacques Bouveresse Jacques Bouveresse (; 20 August 1940 – 9 May 2021) was a French philosopher who wrote on subjects including Ludwig Wittgenstein, Robert Musil, Karl Kraus, philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophy of mathematics and analytical philosophy ...
, the sociologist Robert Castel, the philosopher Catherine Colliot-Thélène, the writer Chloé Delaume, the historian Michel Dreyfus, the anthropologist
Françoise Héritier Françoise Héritier (15 November 1933 – 15 November 2017) was a French anthropologist, ethnologist, and feminist. She was the successor of Claude Lévi-Strauss at the Collège de France (Chair of Comparative Studies of African Societies from ...
, the sculptor Françoise Jolivet, the film-maker Roy Lekus, the sociologist Eric Macé, the philosopher
Pierre Macherey Pierre Macherey (; born 17 February 1938, Belfort) is a French Marxist philosopher and literary critic at the University of Lille Nord de France. A former student of Louis Althusser and collaborator on the influential volume ''Reading Capital ...
, the philosopher Jean-Claude Monod the artist Ariane Mnouchkine, the economist
Yann Moulier Boutang Yann is a French male given name, specifically, the Breton form of "Jean" (French for "John"). Notable persons with the name Yann include: __NOTOC__ In arts and entertainment *Yann Martel (born 1963), Canadian author *Yann Moix (born 1968), Fren ...
(involved with '' Multitudes''), the historian
Gérard Noiriel Gérard (French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitue ...
, the historian
Pascal Ory Pascal Ory (born 31 July 1948) is a French historian. A student of René Rémond, he specialises in cultural and political history and has written on Fascism ever since his master's dissertation on the Greenshirts of Henri Dorgères. In the 1 ...
, the historian
Michelle Perrot Michelle Perrot (born 18 May 1928, Paris) is a French historian, and Professor emeritus of Contemporary History at the Paris Diderot University. She won the 2009 Prix Femina Essai. Life She has worked on the history of labor movements, and stud ...
, the economist Thomas Piketty, the historian Benjamin Stora, the anthropologist Emmanuel Terray, the lawyer Michel Tubiana (former president of the Human Rights League), and the sociologist
Loïc Wacquant Loïc J. D. Wacquant (; born 1960) is a sociologist and social anthropologist, specializing in urban sociology, urban poverty, racial inequality, the body, social theory and ethnography. Wacquant is a Professor of Sociology and Research A ...
(a student of Pierre Bourdieu). Régis Debray called to vote first for a far-left candidate, then Royal in the second round. On the other hand, the so-called '' Nouveaux Philosophes'' were split on their support.
André Glucksmann André Glucksmann (; 19 June 1937 – 10 November 2015) was a French philosopher, activist and writer. He was a leading figure of the new philosophers. Glucksmann began his career as a Marxist, but went on to reject communism in the popular book ...
called to vote Sarkozy,Pourquoi je choisis Nicolas Sarkozy
'' Le Monde'', 29 January 2007
while Bernard-Henri Lévy voted for Ségolène Royal. Max Gallo, who had supported the left-wing Republican
Jean-Pierre Chevènement Jean-Pierre Chevènement (; born 9 March 1939L ...
in 2002, joined Sarkozy five years later. Pascal Bruckner and
Alain Finkielkraut Alain Finkielkraut (, ; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French philosopher and public intellectual. He has written books and essays on a wide range of topics, many on the ideas of tradition and identitary nonviolence, including Jewish identity and ant ...
have also proved close to Sarkozy, although they did not declare support for him, but Sarkozy did support Finkielkraut after controversial statements made in ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
'' newspaper following the 2005 civil unrest.L'Amérique dans leur tête
Chronicle of Jacques Julliard in '' Le Nouvel Observateur'', 8 February 2007
According to the journalist Jacques Julliard, the support of some French intellectuals for the 2003 invasion of Iraq is the root of their rallying to Sarkozy, following the creation of the review titled '' Le Meilleur des mondes'' (Brave New World). Pascal Bruckner, historian Stéphane Courtois,
Thérèse Delpech Thérèse Delpech (11 February 1948 – 17 January 2012) was a French international relations expert and prolific public intellectual. Thèrese Delpech graduated from the École Normale Supérieure and went on to pass the agrégation of philoso ...
,
André Glucksmann André Glucksmann (; 19 June 1937 – 10 November 2015) was a French philosopher, activist and writer. He was a leading figure of the new philosophers. Glucksmann began his career as a Marxist, but went on to reject communism in the popular book ...
, Romain Goupil, Pierre-André Taguieff, Olivier Rollin, and
Pierre Rigoulot Pierre Rigoulot (born 1944) is a French historian and author. The author of ''L'antiaméricanisme'', he contributed to Stéphane Courtois' ''The Black Book of Communism'' and helped Kang Chol-Hwan write ''The Aquariums of Pyongyang ''The Aqu ...
are frequent contributors to this review. Tennis player Yannick Noah called to vote for Royal, while Sarkozy obtained the support of singers Johnny Hallyday, Mireille Mathieu and Faudel, of rapper Doc Gyneco, and former politician and current actor
Bernard Tapie Bernard Roger Tapie (; 26 January 1943 – 3 October 2021) was a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Minister of City Affairs in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy. Life and career Tapie was bor ...
. He also had the support of actors Jean Reno and Christian Clavier, both residing in
Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...
where Sarkozy was the mayor between 1983 and 2002 and of
Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...
. But also of industrialist
Martin Bouygues Martin Pierre Marie Bouygues (; born 3 May 1952) is the chairman and chief executive officer of the French company Bouygues which employs around 130,000 people globally. It was founded by his father Francis Bouygues in 1952. In 2015, he was rank ...
, whose children attended the same school as Sarkozy's offspring.Sarkozy, une lutte sans merci pour le pouvoir
''
Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...
'', 7 May 2007
The humourist Dieudonné and the writer Alain Soral supported Jean-Marie Le Pen. Actress Juliette Binoche supported José Bové. The song ''Elle est facho'' (She's a fascist) on the ''
Rouge Sang ''Rouge Sang'' is a studio album by French singer Renaud released on October 2, 2006. It gained particular media attention for the song ''Elle est facho'' (''She's a fascist'') which portrays a female Front National voter. The song brought about a ...
'' album by singer
Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...
released in 2006 gained particular media attention for lyrics in the last verse that translate as "she's a fascist and votes Sarko" Prominent political commentator
Alain Duhamel Alain Maurice Jacques Duhamel (; born 31 May 1940) is a prominent French journalist and political commentator. In 1963, Duhamel started working at ''Le Monde''. He started giving talks on Europe 1 from 1974. He has also written in '' Libératio ...
was suspended in 2006 after a video was published on
DailyMotion Dailymotion is a French video-sharing technology platform owned by Vivendi. North American launch partners included Vice Media, Bloomberg and Hearst Digital Media. It is among the earliest known platforms to support HD (720p) resolution video. ...
, where he stated his personal intentions of voting for François Bayrou.


International support

Abroad, Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy, gave his support to Sarkozy immediately following the first round, while Romano Prodi, the then Italian premier and leader of the centre-left Union coalition, called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal. Spanish Prime Minister
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...
has shown his support for Royal.
European commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...
and Vice-President Margot Wallström was criticised after she informally suggested support for Royal on her blog, celebrating the fact that a woman got into the second round. She said: "J'étais si contente de voir qu'une femme participera au deuxième tour de l‘élection présidentielle!" (I was so happy to see that a woman would be participating in the second round of the presidential election!) Commissioners are not meant to be politically biased in elections under their code of conduct. Wallström is a social-democrat, like Royal.
José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and university teacher, currently serving as non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International. He previously served as the 11th president of the European Commi ...
, the head of the European Commission, has privately discussed the idea of forming a "strategic partnership" with Mr. Sarkozy. Many U.S. pundits and western economists expressed support for
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
. Steve Forbes devoted several columns in the influential financial publication '' FORBES Magazine''.Royal Rubbish
, article by Steve Forbes in '' FORBES Magazine'', 12 March 2007
The London-based magazine '' The Economist'' also expressed support for Sarkozy's economic platform .


Alleged Libyan financial contributions to Sarkozy

In 2011, according to the son of the Libyan leader Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, Sarkozy was provided with financial support from Libya during the presidential election. In 2012, Mediapart published material revealing Gaddafi's financial support to Nicolas Sarkozy for the election. In March 2018 Sarkozy was charged for corruption.


Opinion polls

French law prohibits publishing the results of opinion polls related to the election during the day of the election and the preceding day, so as to prevent undue influencing of the vote. No estimate can be given before Sunday 8 pm, when the last voting office closes and official counts begin to be released. However, media from neighbouring countries, which are not bound by these regulations, have long broadcast estimates (
Télévision Suisse Romande Télévision Suisse Romande ("Swiss Television Romandy") was a Television broadcasting, TV network with two channels: TSR 1 and TSR 2 (the two channels became RTS Un and RTS Deux after 2012). They were the main French language channels in Switz ...
in particular). In 2007, the issue took a particular importance because of the generalisation of blogs and Internet pages. Journalist Jean-Marc Morandini stirred turmoil when he announced his intention of publishing results on his blog as soon as 18:00. Another problem was that the results from the voting offices in the Americas (consulates and French overseas possessions) were counted on Saturday night, and some began circulating rumours as to these results. ;First round ;Second round


Results

The first round saw a very high turnout of 83.8% – 36.7 million of the 44.5 million
electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...
voted from a population of 64.1 million (not including French people living abroad).Elections 2007
on the website of ''
Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...
''
The results of that round saw Sarkozy and Royal qualify for the second round with Sarkozy getting 31% and Royal 26%.
François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...
came third (19%) and Jean-Marie Le Pen fourth (10%), unlike
in 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...
when Le Pen got a surprising 16.9% and qualified for the second round.Results
from '' Le Monde''
Immediately after the first round's results were made official, four defeated left-wing candidates – José Bové, Marie-George Buffet, Arlette Laguiller and
Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet (born 4 November 1958) is a French politician who is a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens. She is the former mayor of Montreuil and was a French senator for the ''département'' of Seine-Saint-Denis. Life Dominique Voy ...
– urged their supporters to vote for Royal. This was the first time since 1981 that Laguiller had endorsed the Socialist Party's candidate. Olivier Besancenot called his supporters to vote against Sarkozy. Frédéric Nihous and
Gérard Schivardi Gérard Schivardi (born 17 April 1950) is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party (''Parti des Travailleurs'') of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of ...
never officially supported either Royal or Sarkozy. Philippe de Villiers called for a vote for Sarkozy. Le Pen told his voters to "abstain massively" in the second round. On 25 April, Bayrou declared he would not support either candidate in the runoff, and announced he would form a new political party called the
Democratic Movement A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution or organization or a country, in which all members have an equal share of power. Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities that differentiate ...
. He criticised both major candidates, and offered to debate them. Royal agreed to hold a televised debate, while Sarkozy offered to have a private discussion but not a televised debate. By around 6:15 pm local time on 6 May, Belgian and Swiss news sources such as '' Le Soir'',
RTBF The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...
, '' La Libre Belgique'' and ''
La Tribune de Genève LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' had announced Nicolas Sarkozy as the winner of the second round, citing preliminary exit poll data. The final CSA estimate showed him winning with 53% of the votes cast. Royal conceded defeat to Sarkozy that evening.


First round and analysis

Nationwide, Nicolas Sarkozy obtained 31% and Ségolène Royal 26% – while in 2002,
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
had obtained 20%, and Lionel Jospin 16.18%. The right-of-centre François Bayrou obtained 18.6% this time, nearly tripling his 2002 result (6.8%). National Front (FN) candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, made only 10.4%, compared to his stunning 16.9% finish in 2002. Along with the April–May shift to the far right made by Sarkozy, this has led many commentators to allege that traditional voters of the FN had been tempted by Sarkozy.Sarkozy et les immigrés «qui n'aiment pas» la France
'' RFI'', 24 April 2006
On a global scale, the left-wing reached 36% of the votes, against 19% for the "centre", 33% for the right wing and 11% for the
far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
. Other candidates received a much lower share of the vote than they had in 2002, with Olivier Besancenot ( Revolutionary Communist League, LCR) failing to achieve the 5% necessary to have his political campaign reimbursed by the state. Besancenot received 4.1%, compared to 4.3% in 2002. He was followed by the traditionalist Philippe de Villiers (2.2%), Communist Marie-George Buffet (1.9%, compared to 3.4% for
Robert Hue Robert Hue (born 19 October 1946) is a French politician who was National Secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 1994 to 2001 and President of the PCF from 2001 to 2002. He served as a Deputy in the National Assembly of France fr ...
in 2002), Green candidate
Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet (born 4 November 1958) is a French politician who is a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens. She is the former mayor of Montreuil and was a French senator for the ''département'' of Seine-Saint-Denis. Life Dominique Voy ...
(1.6%, compared to 5.3% for
Noël Mamère Noël Mamère (born 25 December 1948 in Libourne, Gironde) is a French journalist and politician. He was the mayor of Bègles in Gironde as well as deputy to the French National Assembly for that constituency. He was for several years a member o ...
in 2002), Workers' Struggle's candidate Arlette Laguiller (1.3%, compared to 5.7% in 2002), alter-globalisation candidate José Bové (1.3%), Frédéric Nihous (1.2% , against 4.2% for
Jean Saint-Josse Jean Saint-Josse (born 22 March 1944 in Coarraze, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) is a French politician and former member of the Rally for the Republic (RPR), he is the leader of the ruralist Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions (CPNT) party. In ...
in 2002) and finally
Gérard Schivardi Gérard Schivardi (born 17 April 1950) is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the Workers' Party (''Parti des Travailleurs'') of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of ...
with 0.3% (
Daniel Gluckstein Daniel Gluckstein (born 3 March 1953 in Paris) is a French Trotskyism, Trotskyist politics, politician best known for running in the 2002 French presidential election, French presidential election of 2002 as the candidate of the Workers' Party (Fr ...
had achieved 0.5% in 2002). The
abstention Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...
rate was 15.4%. With an overall record turnout of 83.8%, a level not achieved since the 1965 presidential election when turnout was 84.8%, the vast majority of the electorate decided not to stay home. Most of them decided against protest votes, and chose the ''vote utile'' ( tactical voting, literally "useful vote"), that is, a vote for one of the purported leaders of the electoral race (Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal and/or François Bayrou). The "Anyone But Sarkozy" push benefited both Bayrou and Royal, while the tactical voting, on the right or on the left, explains the low score of the other candidates, in contrast with the last presidential election's first round. The electoral campaign saw a polarisation of the political scene, encapsulated by the "Anyone But Sarkozy" slogan on the left. But it also saw a reconfiguration of the political chessboard, with various left-wing figures and voters deciding to support Sarkozy against Royal, who saw opposition inside her own party.
Bernard Tapie Bernard Roger Tapie (; 26 January 1943 – 3 October 2021) was a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Minister of City Affairs in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy. Life and career Tapie was bor ...
, a former Socialist, Max Gallo, who had supported left-wing Republican
Jean-Pierre Chevènement Jean-Pierre Chevènement (; born 9 March 1939L ...
in 2002, Eric Besson, etc., passed on Sarkozy's side. On the other hand, some right-wing voters, upset by Sarkozy's attitude on law and order, immigration, and even genetics (his recent declarations on paedophilia, homosexuality and suicides as genetically induced, denounced by the geneticist Axel Kahn), decided to vote for Bayrou. Centrist figures of the Socialist party, such as Michel Rocard and
Bernard Kouchner Bernard Kouchner KBE (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs ...
, called for an alliance between Bayrou and Royal, which might have had consequences in the June 2007 legislative elections – these determined the
parliamentary majority A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
, and decided that France would not see another '' cohabitation'' between the President, head of state, and the Prime minister, leader of the government. Former socialist minister Claude Allègre stated such an alliance was "entirely conceivable", while Royal herself strongly criticised Rocard's comments.
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
, the national secretary of the Socialist Party and Ségolène Royal's partner, excluded any alliance with the centre-right, along with others left-wing leaders, such as Laurent Fabius or
Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet (born 4 November 1958) is a French politician who is a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens. She is the former mayor of Montreuil and was a French senator for the ''département'' of Seine-Saint-Denis. Life Dominique Voy ...
.


By department


By region


Urban votes

In urban areas, most lower and middle-income neighbourhoods and cities voted largely for Ségolène Royal. In the tenth arrondissement of Paris, Royal obtained 42% against 25% for Sarkozy, and 20.35% for Bayrou; in the 11th arrondissement, Royal obtained more than 40.8% to 25.8% for Sarkozy and 20.9% for Bayrou. In the
18th arrondissement The 18th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-huitième''. The arrondis ...
, Royal obtained 41.1% against 23.4% for Sarkozy; in the
19th arrondissement The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, i ...
, Royal obtained more than 39%, against almost 28% for Sarkozy; and in the
20th arrondissement The 20th arrondissement of Paris (known in French as the ''XXe arrondissement de Paris'' or simply as "''le vingtième''") is the last of the consecutively numbered arrondissements of the capital city of France. Also known as Ménilmontant () af ...
, Royal obtained 42.4% against 23.2% for Sarkozy, and 18.3% for Bayrou. Royal also narrowly beat Sarkozy in the normally conservative city of Bordeaux (31.4% against 30.8%, and 22% for Bayrou), as well as in Brest,
Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Clermont-Ferrand, Grenoble,
Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
,
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
, Lille,
Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
,
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
,
Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...
,
Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...
, Amiens, Pau (where Bayrou finished first),
Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
and Toulouse (the historical base of the former Radical-Socialist Party). Working-class Paris suburbs (called ''les
banlieue In France, the term banlieue (; ) refers to a suburb of a large city. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80% of the inhabitants of the Paris Metropolitan Are ...
s'') also massively voted for Royal. This was more or less expected, in particular with the high level of voter registration by suburban youths, who had been strongly opposed to Sarkozy since the
2005 riots 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...
during which he had made controversial remarks. Meanwhile, a large number of university students had participated in the protests against the CPE, proposed by Sarkozy's UMP party, in the spring of 2006; they also strongly backed Royal. She consequently came first in Nanterre, with almost 36% against 23% for Sarkozy. She reached 41.6% in Saint-Denis, against 19.6% for Sarkozy and 15.5% for Bayrou. In Évry, she also passed the 40% line, while Sarkozy received only 23.6%. In Créteil, she won a closer race, gaining 35% to Sarkozy's 30% and 18% for Bayrou. In the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, home to many people of immigrant origin, Royal obtained 34.2% to 26.8% for Sarkozy and 16.7% for Bayrou. In contrast, wealthy arrondissements of Paris voted for Sarkozy. The prosperous
16th arrondissement The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de Tr ...
gave him 64% of its vote, against 16.4% for Bayrou and only 11.27% for Royal; the seventh arrondissement voted for 56% in favour of Sarkozy, to 20.35 for Bayrou and 15.35% for Royal; the eighth arrondissement voted at more than 58% for Sarkozy to 18.65% for Bayrou and 14% for Royal; the
15th arrondissement 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious num ...
voted 41.5% for Sarkozy against 24.3% for Royal and 22.9% for Bayrou. The mostly wealthy Paris suburbs of the
Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...
department, home of
Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...
where Sarkozy is mayor, voted 38.3% for him, against 26% for Royal and 21.3% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also won in the Essonne department (more than 31% against 27% for Royal), in the Seine-et-Marne (33.5% to almost 24% for Royal) as well as in the Yvelines (37.7% against 23% for Royal and 22% for Bayrou). Marseille, the second-largest city of France, went Sarkozy's way overall as he won 34.25% of the vote to 27.1% for Royal and only 14.1% for Bayrou (putting a close third ahead of Le Pen, who obtained 13.4%). However, in working-class neighbourhoods of the north of Marseille, such as Savine (
15th arrondissement 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious num ...
) and the Busserine ( 14th arrondissement), Royal received overwhelming support, receiving 60% of the vote in Busserine. France's third-largest city, Lyon, also was won by Sarkozy, who received 34.5% of the vote to 27.3% for Royal and 22% for Bayrou. He triumphed as well in the wealthy city of
Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
with 36.8%, against 25.4% for Royal and 19.8% for Bayrou. In Nice, a conservative stronghold, Sarkozy obtained more than 41% against 20.4% for Royal and less than 15% for Bayrou. Sarkozy also narrowly beat Royal in the industrial port of Le Havre (29% against 26.8%), as well as in
Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
,
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...
, Metz, Nancy, and
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
(these last three cities belonging to the Alsace-Lorraine region).


Regional votes

A map of France's departments shows the candidate of the Socialist Party, Ségolène Royal, came first in the South-West and the Massif Central, which were traditional bases of the Radical-Socialist Party during the Third Republic. She also topped the poll in Brittany, except in the department of Morbihan, but a fifth of electors in Brittany voted for Bayrou. Nièvre and Seine-Saint-Denis were other departments where she came first, as well as the overseas departments of Martinique and
Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
and the overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Sarkozy came first everywhere else, except for Pyrénées-Atlantiques, where Bayrou topped the poll in the department of his birth. The left regressed, compared 2002, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, which has traditionally favored Socialist and Communist candidates. The Nord department, hit hard during the 1980s by an industrial crisis, gave a plurality to Sarkozy (29.3%), while Royal won 24.8% (and won the city of Lille) and Bayrou received 15.6%. Marie-George Buffet barely received 5% in the constituency of the Communist deputy
Alain Bocquet Alain Bocquet (born 6 May 1946) is a French politician. A member of the French Communist Party (PCF), he was a Deputy from the Nord department of France between 1978 and 2017 and president of the communist parliamentary group from 1993 to ...
. The Haute-Garonne, traditional Radical-Socialist territory, voted (including its capital, Toulouse), for Ségolène Royal, giving her 33%, against less than 27% for Sarkozy and slightly more than 19% for Bayrou. The Corrèze, where Jacques Chirac began his political career as the deputy of Ussel, also voted slightly in favour of Royal, as did the Creuse, one of the least-populated departments of France. The
Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...
, part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region where the National Front won several cities in the 1990s ( Toulon of the
Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...
,
Marignane Marignane (; oc, Marinhana) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Geography It is a component of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and the largest suburb of the cit ...
of the Bouches-du-Rhône and Orange of the Vaucluse) voted for Sarkozy at 43.6%, while Royal received only 17.9%, Bayrou 15.0%, and Jean-Marie Le Pen 13.5%. The Vaucluse department gave 32.8% of its votes to Sarkozy, 20.9% to Royal, 16.8% to Le Pen and 15.5% to Bayrou. The Vendée voted 29.7% for Sarkozy, 21.7% for Royal, 20.8% for Bayrou, and 11.3% for Philippe de Villiers, deputy of the department. Le Pen. meanwhile, managed only 6.5%. Le Pen's highest departmental tallies occurred in
Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Haute-Marne (17%). Other departments to give him more than 15% were the Vaucluse (16.8%), Haute-Saône (16.5%), Meuse (16.3%),
Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
(16.2% – where left-wing candidate Besancenot received 5.35%),
Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...
(16%), Oise (15.9%), Corse-du-Sud (15.9%), Vosges (15.7%), and
Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
, Aisne (where Le Pen also achieved a strong results), Ariège, Allier (where Sarkozy obtained 28% against nearly 26% for Royal), Calvados (where Sarkozy finished first with 29% to 25% for Royal), Finistère, Cher, Côtes d'Armor, Creuse,
Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...
, Meurthe-et-Moselle,
Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...
, Meuse,
Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
, Pas-de-Calais (6.2%), Sarthe, Nièvre, Puy-de-Dôme, Somme,
Territoire-de-Belfort The Territoire de Belfort () is a departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions of France, region, eastern France. It had a population of 141,318 in 2019.Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; oc, Nauta Vinhana, ; English: Upper Vienne) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve departments that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitai ...
and the overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (6.5%, along with 5.1% for José Bové; only 6.7% for Le Pen). The
overseas department The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...
of Martinique has been strongly opposed to Sarkozy; Aimé Césaire, mayor of
Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the ...
and leader of the '' Négritude'' movement, refused to see him during his visit there in December 2005 (due to the UMP vote of the 2005 law on colonialism). In the first round, it heavily supported Royal (48.5%, against 33.8% for Sarkozy and only 8.6% for Bayrou; the next highest total was received by Besancenot, with 2.5%).
Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
also strongly supported Royal (46.2%, to 25% for Sarkozy and 13% for Bayrou). Meanwhile, Sarkozy won in
New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
(with 49.7% of the vote) and in
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
(with 42.6%, against 38.3% for Royal), as well as in French Guiana and the overseas territories of
French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...
and Wallis and Futuna.


Demographic breakdown of the first-round vote

''Source: IPSOS, se
Sociologie du vote du 1er tour
'' L'Humanité'', 5 May 2007.'' 30% of men voted for Sarkozy, 24% of them for Royal. 32% of women voted Sarkozy, 27% Royal. 29% of 18- to 24-year-olds voted Royal, against 26% for Sarkozy. Sarkozy also made a higher score for 35- to 44-year-olds and 60- to 69-year-olds, but a lesser score in the 45- to 59-year-old category. 36% of farmers voted Sarkozy against 8% for Royal. Workers voted at similar levels for both Sarkozy and Royal (21% for each), while public servants voted at 34% for Royal (18% for Sarkozy). 19% of unemployed people voted for Sarkozy, 32% of them for Royal. Students also voted in majority for Royal (32% against 21%), while pensioned elders voted at 41% for Sarkozy (23% for Royal).


Second round

The second round of the 2007 French presidential election started in Saint Pierre and Miquelon on Saturday 5 May 2007 at 8 am local time (2007-05-05 10:00 UTC) and ended in the large cities of Metropolitan France on Sunday, 6 May 2007 at 8 pm local time (2007-05-06 18:00 UTC). Turnout in the second round of the election was 84.0%, higher than in the first round. Nicolas Sarkozy got 53.06% of the votes and Ségolène Royal got 46.94%. The left-right division was reinforced, according to many observers, by the election of Nicolas Sarkozy.Analyse : un clivage droite-gauche renforcé
by Eric Dupin in '' Le Figaro'', 8 May 2007
91% of the electors self-identifying as members of the centre-left voted for Royal, and 92% of those who self-identified as centre-right voted for Sarkozy. The center thus appears to have been polarized. The vast majority of the dissident left also voted for Royal, while the extreme right strongly supported Sarkozy. Although Jacques Chirac was successful among young electors
in 1995 IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...
, mostly owing to his discourse on the "social rupture" (''fracture sociale''), Sarkozy's electorate was more traditionally right-wing and focused on older people. The only age group that gave him a majority was the over-50, who accounted for 52% of his voters, compared to only 37% of Royal's. Sarkozy obtained only 40% among those 18–24 years old, while Chirac had obtained 55% in the same category in 1995. In social categories, Sarkozy won majorities among pensioned and inactive elders (58%), business leaders, shopkeepers and craftworkers (82% ), categories which are traditionally conservative. Sarkozy lost votes, compared to Chirac, among workers (59% for Royal) and employees (57% for Royal). The general electoral geography did not significantly change from the first Chirac election. However, Sarkozy received a lesser score in Corrèze, Chirac's home department, and bettered Chirac's score in the North-East, where Le Pen had obtained some of his better scores in 2002. Overall, the increase in votes for Sarkozy between the two rounds occurred mostly in departments where the National Front's presence is strong. Spoilt votes represented 4.2% of the electors (as much as in 2002 and 1995).


By department


By region


Abstention and spoilt votes

Abstention Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...
was exceptionally low, as well as protest votes.
Blank vote A protest vote (also called a blank, null, spoiled, or " none of the above" vote) is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates or the current political system. Protest voting takes a variety of forms ...
(going to vote, but deliberately cancelling one's ballot, by any means possible – tearing it in two, writing
Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...
on it, or anything absurd as such) is not included in official counts – i.e. it is considered a spoilt vote, counted as equivalent to abstention. A very small party, the '' Parti Blanc'' (White Party, for "white vote", i.e. blank vote) called for the official count of white votes by the state (as in
None of the above "None of the above" (NOTA), or none for short, also known as "against all" or a "scratch" vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system. ...
systems). It organised a march in Paris on Wednesday 18 March 2007 in which only thirty people participated.


Aftermath


Riots

Thousands of youths took to the streets Sunday night following the final presidential election results. While many simply expressed their discontent at the election of Nicolas Sarkozy, others chose to engage in violent action. Riots erupted in several urban centers including the capital Paris where some of the most intense clashes were reported in the Place de la Bastille. A gathering of opponents to Sarkozy there quickly ended in confrontations between the youth and the riot control forces, who tear gassed the whole place. 732 cars were torched according to estimates of the DGPN (direction of the police) and government buildings and property came under attack. Police clashed with protesters who were described by French media as members of the ultra-left and of the autonome movement or youth from the suburbs. During the fighting dozens of officers were injured and 592 alleged rioters were arrested.Premier bilan de la présidence Sarkozy: 730 voitures brûlées, 592 interpellations
''
Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...
'', 7 May 2007
70 people were arrested in the North department and 79 in Paris. Overall the situation remained calm. Some clashes continued on the night of Monday to Tuesday, with 365 torched cars and 160 alleged rioters detained by the police.L'ultragauche se déchaîne contre Sarkozy
'' Le Figaro'', 9 May 2007
Ten people were in court already by Monday. Two of them were given firm prison sentences of six and three months respectively, and two others to 120 hours of TIG (General Interest Labour, an alternative sentence to prison). Another one has been given a two-month firm prison sentence and two others TIG hours. Some of the people judged in Lyon have denied any involvement in the riots (two of them received 120 hours of TIG and a 200 euros fine). 300 to 400 people demonstrated on the Boulevard Saint-Michel on Wednesday 9 May, in opposition to a demonstration of white supremacists. By 9 pm that night 118 of them had been arrested. A 31-year-old engineer took legal action following his release from custody claiming he had been a victim of
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
. He claimed that he had not taken part to the demonstrations, but had been arrested nonetheless.


Sarkozy's detention March 2018

On 20 March 2018, Sarkozy was arrested by the French Police because of the suspect having received 50 million euros for his presidential campaign from
Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
.theguardian.com
''Nicolas Sarkozy in police custody over Gaddafi allegations''
/ref>


See also

* Alleged Libyan interference in the 2007 French elections * Elections in France *
2007 French legislative election The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the French presidential election run-off on 6 May. 7,639 candidates stood for 577 seats, inclu ...
* Two-round system


References


Further reading

* Dolez, Bernard, and Annie Laurent. "Strategic voting in a semi-presidential system with a two-ballot electoral system. The 2007 French legislative election." ''French politics'' 8.1 (2010): 1-20
Online
* Dumitrescu, Delia. "Know me, love me, fear me: The anatomy of candidate poster designs in the 2007 French legislative elections." ''Political Communication'' 27.1 (2010): 20–43
Online
* Gurau, Calin, and Nawel Ayadi. "Political communication management: The strategy of the two main candidates during the 2007 French presidential elections." ''Journal of Communication Management'' 15.1 (2011): 5-22
online
* Lemennicier, Bertrand, Hororine Lescieux-Katir, and Bernard Grofman. "The 2007 French presidential election." ''Canadian Journal of Political Science'' 43.1 (2010): 137–161
Online
* Lewis-Beck, Michael S., Éric Bélanger, and Christine Fauvelle-Aymar. "Forecasting the 2007 French presidential election: Ségolène Royal and the Iowa model." ''French Politics'' 6.2 (2008): 106–115
Online
* Mayer, Nonna. "Why extremes don’t meet: Le Pen and Besancenot voters in the 2007 French presidential election." ''French Politics, Culture & Society'' 29.3 (2011): 101–120
Online


External links


French Elections 2007
from Britain's ''Daily Telegraph''
Royal, Sarkozy and Bayrou: The policies
BBC
Explanation of the French presidential election on the site of the French Embassy to the United Kingdom


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070414150132/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/searchSimpleResults/iw/1/keyword/sarkozy%20and%20royal AngusReid (French election polls in English)br>BBC News: Q&A: French presidential vote
*

{{Authority control France Presidential elections in France