PARIS – French president Nicolas Sarkozy would be trounced by either of two Socialists likely to run against him in next year’s presidential election, despite a minor recovery in his popularity ratings, a poll said yesterday.
The latest poll showed François Hollande, favourite for the Socialist Party ticket, taking 60 per cent of second-round votes versus 40 per cent for Mr Sarkozy.
If Socialist Party boss Martine Aubry were to run instead of Mr Hollande, she would take 58 per cent of the votes and Mr Sarkozy 48 per cent in the run-off, the online poll conducted by Harris Interactive on June 3rd-5th showed.
Mr Hollande or Ms Aubry would score highest in the first round of voting, with 27 per cent if the Socialist candidate is Mr Hollande and 25 per cent if it is Ms Aubry. Mr Sarkozy, with 23 or 24 per cent, would score slightly better than far-right National Front party leader Marine Le Pen. – (Reuters)