Sarkozy narrows gap with Hollande in race for French president

Jan 8, 2012, 9:12 GMT

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is closing in on his main rival in this year's presidential election, with an opinion poll published Sunday showing the incumbent trailing Socialist candidate Francois Hollande by just two points.

A little over three months before the election, Sarkozy had the support of 26 per cent of French people, according to the survey carried out by Ifop pollsters that was published in Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper. Hollande had 28 per cent.

The leader of the far-right National Front, Marine le Pen, was running in third place with 19 points. The poll surveyed 1,163 voters.

The poll numbers boost Sarkozy as he swings into campaign mode, crisscrossing the country to convey New Year wishes to various sections of French industry, even though he has yet to officially announce his bid for re-election.

Two months ago, he was running 6.5 points behind Hollande, a parliamentarian in the central region of Correze and former Socialist Party leader.

The results showed the narrowing of the gap due mainly to a sharp drop in support for Hollande, who was down 4.5 points from 32.5 per cent in mid-November.

At the time, Hollande was surfing on a wave of support following his decisive victory in the Socialist primaries in October.

Since then, he has been criticized for appearing indecisive and vague while Sarkozy has punted himself as an effective crisis leader, working closely with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to try to restore investor confidence in the battered eurozone.

While Sarkozy is now within striking distance of Hollande, the poll showed Hollande still likely to win comfortably if the election goes to a second round between the two candidates.

French elections usually go to a second round, which is required when no candidate wins an outright majority.

If Hollande and Sarkozy were the last two candidates standing, Hollande would win with 54 per cent of the vote, against 46 per cent for Sarkozy, the poll showed.