France: Sarkozy Pulls Ahead of Hollande in First-Round Support - by Mark Deen and Helene Fouquet

French President Nicolas Sarkozy pulled ahead of Socialist Francois Hollande in first-round voting intentions for the first time in the 2012 presidential election campaign, a poll showed. Hollande maintained his lead in second-round support. 

Sarkozy leads in first-round intentions by 28.5 percent to 27 percent, according to a bi-weekly Ifop Fiducial poll for Europe 1 radio, Paris Match and Public Senat. The survey was carried out on March 11 and 12 among a sample of 1,638 people. The margin of error is about 2.1 percentage points.

The survey, taken after Sarkozy called for a “Buy European” act and tougher border controls, suggests that the French leader may be winning over supporters from National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, whose backing fell by one point to 16 percent. Hollande remains ahead in the second round with 54.5 percent, compared with 45.5 percent for Sarkozy.

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