JOIN USNicolas Sarkozy and Socialist rival Francois Hollande stepped up their battle on Tuesday for the six million votes that went to the far-right in the first round of France’s presidential election.
“It’s up to me to convince the National Front (FN) voters,” Hollande told Liberation newspaper, arguing that many of them were in fact left-wing and their support for the anti-immigrant, anti-EU party was a protest vote.
Hollande and the right-wing Sarkozy — who beat off eight other candidates in Sunday’s first round — will now square off in a final round on May 6 that opinion polls say the Socialist will win.
But both candidates know their fate may rest in the hands of the 18 per cent of voters who plumped for National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who wants to ditch the euro and who rails against the “Islamisation” of France.
The election has laid bare deep French fears over globalisation, the European debt crisis and austerity measures aimed at stemming it, and national identity. Hollande gave a lengthy interview to Liberation to explain that the massive FN vote was the expression of “social anger” and that he hoped to be able to bring these millions of disgruntled voters back to the mainstream.
He said voters identified Sarkozy with the EU’s free-market ideology and the austerity measures the bloc has imposed across the continent to try and contain its lingering debt crisis.
Hollande’s promised alternative is to ease the drive for budget cuts and emphasise measures for growth to stem France’s rising unemployment.