Among the candidates, two are clearly far ahead of the race according to recent surveys: Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy, respectively from the leftist (PS - Parti Socialiste) and rightist (UMP - Union pour un Mouvement Populaire) parties. The third and fourth places are for Francois Bayrou, centrist (UDF - Union pour la Démocratie Francaise), and Jean-Parie Le Pen, a far-rightist French candidate (FN - Front National).
The first round of this two-round presidential election is set on Sunday April 22nd, 2007. The second round, on Sunday May 2, will name the new President of France for the next five years.
Another important political meeting in 2007 will take place few weeks later, in June: French people will have to vote for their deputies to represent them at the Assemblee Nationale, or National Assembly, during the Legislative Elections.
English-written pages at http://www.france-
