April 21, 2007 - French politics is likely to bring a big change since the voters have started electing their new president. There are 12 candidates contesting the first round of the two-stage election but the top two would get the privilege of the second round.

As Stephanie Kennedy reports, rarely has a French election been as close as this one, with one-third of voters still undecided.

(Excerpt of song by French rapper Khalifa)

Stephanie Kennedy: While over 30 per cent of voters are yet to decide who they'll vote for, French rapper Khalifa has delivered his verdict in a rap song, and when he goes to the ballot box he won't be casting his vote for the frontrunner, the Conservatives' Nicolas Sarkozy.

 Khalifak: I'm quite sure that the situation is going to be worse than ever, worse and worse, because Mr Sarkozy is not the man, he's just not the man we need.

In this time of trouble, in this time of misery, unemployment, this man just works for the people to be, for the rich to be richer and for the poor to be poorer.

Stephanie Kennedy: Nicolas Sarkozy is a former interior minister. He has a reputation as a hardline, pro-American politician. As the Paris suburbs burned in 2005, he famously described the angry young immigrants as "scum".

But in some ways she was more efficient than people would have assumed. She sensed that the electorate, they wanted a different kind of campaign. In fact, she's not only the candidate of the left versus the candidate of the right, she wants to be seen as the candidate of modernity.

Stephanie Kennedy: Both the leading candidates have been fending off a surge in support for the Centrists' Francois Bayrou. He wants a government of national unity, bridging France's left-right political divide.

The French farmer has shaken up this presidential race. His sudden rise in the polls has been attributed to an anti-Sarkozy feeling amongst voters.
 
Full Story: http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2007/s1903165.htm