2012 French presidential election

French presidential election, 2012

22 April and 6 May 2012

Nominee Nicolas Sarkozy François Hollande Marine Le Pen Party UMP PS FN   Nominee Jean-Luc Mélenchon François Bayrou Party FG MoDem

Incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy UMP

The 2012 French presidential election is the next presidential election, to be held on 22 April and 6 May 2012, the latter being used for a run-off if necessary. President Nicolas Sarkozy will be eligible to run for a second successive and final term during this election.

Qualification for the first ballot

In order to qualify for the first ballot for President, a candidate must collect the signatures of at least five hundred elected representatives among a total of more than 47,000; these can be mayors, general councillors, regional councillors, deputies, senators, members of the European Parliament elected in France. Ten candidates have qualified in 2012:

• Eva Joly,
• Marine Le Pen,
• Nicolas Sarkozy,
• Jean-Luc Mélenchon,
• Philippe Poutou,
• Nathalie Arthaud,
• Jacques Cheminade,
• François Bayrou,
• Nicolas Dupont-Aignan,
• François Hollande.

Socialist Party primary

Main article: French Socialist Party presidential primary, 2011

The 2011 French Socialist Party presidential primary was the first open primary (primaires citoyennes), jointly held by the French Socialist Party and Radical Party of the Left for selecting their candidate for the 2012 presidential election. Voters had to donate at least one Euro and sign a pledge to the values of the Left to be eligible. The filing deadline for primary nomination papers was fixed on 13 July 2011 and six candidates competed in the first round of the vote. On election day, 9 October 2011, no candidate won 50 percent of the vote, and the two candidates with the most votes contested a runoff election on 16 October 2011: François Hollande won the primary, defeating Martine Aubry.

Campaign

With the electoral shift to the Left in the indirect Senate elections in September 2011, Nicolas Sarkozy was seen from domestic and German vantages both to have failed to boost his party's popularity, particularly with foreign affairs initiatives, and to have lost the ability to pursue budget proposals as he had anticipated in advance of the presidential contest. And opinion polls, from the time of the nomination of Francois Hollande, showed a comfortable lead for the Socialist Party.

The official campaign began on 20th March 2012, but in wake of the shooting at the Ozar Hatorah day school in Toulouse, in March 2012, the campaign was temporarily suspended. Although some candidates, such as Jean-Luc Mélenchon, argued that to continue with the campaign was "an act of moral, emotional and intellectual resistance".

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the French presidential election, 2012

Candidates gallery

• 
  The Greens: MEP and former magistrate Eva Joly
• 
  National Front: Party President and MEP Marine Le Pen was selected on 16 May 2011.
• 
  Union for a Popular Movement: On 15 February 2012, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he was running for a second five year term.
• 
  Left Front: Jean-Luc Mélenchon MEP.
• 
  New Anticapitalist Party: Philippe Poutou
• 
  Workers' Struggle: Nathalie Arthaud
• Solidarité et progrès: Jacques Cheminade
  Solidarité et progrès: Jacques Cheminade
• 
  Democratic Movement: François Bayrou, president of MoDem and MP, confirmed his candidacy on 22 August 2011.
• 
  Mayor and Member of Parliament Nicolas Dupont-Aignan
• 
  Socialist Party: President of the General Council of Corrèze, former First Secretary of the Socialist Party and MP François Hollande

External links

• The Constitutional council's duties relating to the presidential election
• Opinion poll tracker with data
• French presidential election, 2012 at Guardian UK