Sarkozy, Hollande in final campaign ahead of polls | WPN World People News

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Socialist challenger Francois Hollande were running neck-and-neck in opinion polls ahead of the first round of presidential elections in France as campaigning came to an end Friday.

Both Sarkozy and Hollande clashed over the euro crisis in separate radio interviews Friday.

While Sarkozy said he had helped steer the euro zone through its worst debt crisis, Hollande blamed him for mismanaging France's finances.

Sarkozy, speaking on French radio Friday morning, hit out against Hollande saying he has never held senior government office.

"For 10 years he was head of the Socialist Party," he told RTL. "He wasn't the head of very much. That's the truth."

Hollande told Europe 1 radio that France's financial troubles were due to five years of Sarkozy's policies.

"The important thing is to put our public finances in order. They've been turned completely upside down these past years due to irresponsible fiscal policy and the crisis," Hollande said.

Sarkozy is to hold a final campaign event in Nice Friday evening.

Polls have placed the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen at third spot, with radical leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon at a close fourth place and centrist Francois Bayrou fifth.

According to a survey, Hollande would win 29 per cent of votes to Sarkozy's 25.5 per cent on Sunday before they meet head-on in the second round on May 6.

According to analysts, Hollande is expected to win the run-off vote on May 6.

Campaigning and opinion polls are to be banned from Friday midnight.

source: France News.Net