French presidential race up for grabs days before vote
The election is the most unpredictable the country has seen in recent history
France’spresidential race enters its final stretch with no clear winner in sight as the main contenders scrap for votes in a flurry of campaign rallies.
“Everyone is petrified,” said Edouard Lecerf, head of the political department at polling firm Kantar Sofres. “The challenge for each of the four candidates is to seek new votes without alienating their base. French voters are like fish, like eels -- very slippery.”
With almost a third of the electorate still undecided, and the front-runners clustered around 20 per cent in the polls for the first round on April 23, the race is the most unpredictable the country has seen in recent history. With two of the four candidates also hostile to the institutions of the European Union, the result of the runoff two weeks later will have far-reachingimplications not just for France but for the region as a whole.
