Sarkozy, Royal running neck-and-neck, poll shows

Sarkozy, Royal running neck-and-neck, poll shows

	Published : Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:40 By : Agencies Print this Story

PARIS (AFX) - A public opinion poll released Monday showed French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist rival Segolene Royal running neck-and-neck, each garnering 50 pct in a runoff.

It was the first time since early January that Royal was seen on equal footing with Sarkozy, the candidate of the right-wing ruling party, and seemed to confirm the findings of a weekend survey that put her just one point behind.

But a second poll from IPSOS released Monday suggested Sarkozy would still beat Royal in a runoff with 53 pct of votes compared to 47 pct for her.

Sarkozy, 52, has been ahead in 29 consecutive polls released since he won the nomination for the governing Union for the Popular Movement (UMP) on Jan 14.

The LH2 poll crediting the candidates with an equal chance of winning, showed Sarkozy ahead in the first round of voting with 30 pct of votes while Royal would get 27 pct.

The IPSOS poll gave Royal 26 pct of votes in the first round, trailing Sarkozy at 31 pct.

Royal, 53, who wants to become France's first woman president, has climbed back in the polls since a high-profile television appearance last week and a reorganisation of her campaign to bring in former rivals and party heavyweights.

'Mrs Royal has things back in hand,' said Francois Miquet-Marty of the LH2 polling firm.

Centrist Francois Bayrou is credited with 17 pct of votes while far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen is holding steady at 13 pct, according to the LH2 poll.

Eight other candidates are seen as garnering less than 3.5 pct of the votes.

The LH2 poll was carried out on Feb 23 and 24 among a representative sampling of 1,005 people. IPSOS polled 957 voters on the same dates.

Voters in France are heading to the polls on April 22 for a presidential election and a second round of voting is scheduled for May 6 if none of the candidates win an outright majority.

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