In France, the campaign for the country's presidential elections began yesterday, in which 12 candidates are participating. If the elections had taken place not on April 22, but on April 15, then, according to the latest polls, the leader of the neo-Gaullist Union for a Popular Movement, 52-year-old Nicolas Sarkozy, would have received 30.5% of the votes, the representative of the Socialist Party, 53-year-old Segolene Royal, would have received 22.5 %, candidate of the centrist Union for Popular Democracy, 55-year-old Francois Bayrou - 19.5%, head of the far-right National Front, 78-year-old Jean-Marie Le Pen - 13%, and the rest of the candidates - from the Communist Party to anti-globalists - - several percent each. All competitors are allocated 45 minutes of speeches on state television channels. Anti-globalist leader Jose Beauvais was the first to appear on air for one minute, proposing to abolish criminal penalties for smoking marijuana.
Since the presidency of General Charles de Gaulle, candidates for the post of head of France have not received the simple majority of votes necessary for victory in the first round. The second round is possible on May 6, but so far about 40% of the French have not decided on their preferences.
