Presidential elections will take place in France in less than six months, and it is difficult to predict who will come out on top. The Socialist MP, Francois Hollande, is his party's candidate, and continues to enjoy a lead over President Nicholas Sarkozy, according to the latest opinion poll. Sarkozy has yet to formally announce his candidacy, but according to everyone close to him, he will be the candidate of the UMP, which has a majority in the French Parliament. Although Hollande is currently ahead in the polls, Sarkozy's chances to win another five-year term are still significant. Sarkozy has been constantly on the move to solve the country's economic crisis, which could help play a role in his victory. He moved quickly to France's credit rating downgrade, and has been in constant movement on the international scene, to solve the debt crises experienced by countries such as Greece and Italy, to avoid seeing French banks go bankrupt because of their exposure to these countries. Sarkozy's experience and unflagging energy will be in his favor in the presidential campaign. Working against him, meanwhile, are his fickle and mercurial personality, and the manner in which he deals with his supporters. A European finance minister has related how Sarkozy became angry in front of him and yelled at his staff, because things were not going like he wanted. Sarkozy is known for being far from the calm that is required by his post. However, the French right, which suffered from this type of behavior at first, has now rallied around Sarkozy because Hollande's electoral platform is unsuitable to it. In addition to his temperament and personality, Sarkozy is impaired by the fact that French purchasing power has plummeted because of the economic crisis. During his first presidential campaign, Sarkozy promised that he would work to boost purchasing power, but global conditions dashed this promise, and the French people now suffers from high unemployment, which now affects around three million people, along with rising cost of living, which hurt the average citizen. The Socialist candidate, meanwhile, is wagering that everyone who cannot tolerate Sarkozy's personality, or his failure to carry out his promises, will vote against him, with Hollande picking up these anti-Sarkozy votes. Hollande is a calm person and has said that if elected, he will be a “normal” president; he has never held a ministerial position before, serving only as the Secretary General of the Socialist Party. Contrary to what is being said in this regard, he enjoys relations in the foreign arena, especially with the world's socialist parties. However, internal splits in his party, which appeared united during the primaries, have reappeared with force in France, as criticisms abound from every direction. The former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, is Hollande's rival, while the party's secretary general, Martine Aubrey, has her own criticisms of Hollande. In reaching agreement with the Green Party, Hollande has made a mistake, when he appeared if he supported abandoning nuclear power, even though most of France's electricity is generated domestically. This error benefited Sarkozy, who has fiercely defended nuclear power in France. Naturally, voters will cast their ballots according to their political inclinations, since the French are quite politicized. Many people will vote to punish Sarkozy, if they decide to support Hollande, while others fear that the country faces an unknown future, as economic problems accumulate. They will decide to support a person with experience in leading the country, and will thus vote for Sarkozy. As for the wives of each man, each will play an important role behind the scenes. Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni is known to help Sarkozy remain calm and improve his method of dealing with people. Meanwhile, Valerie Treirwelier, Hollande's partner, is a beautiful journalist who also has a positive effect on his political performance. The French presidential race remains wide open, even though the polls are five months away, and French foreign policy will not change. The best example of this is what Sarkozy has said about a break with the era of Jacque Chirac, which turned out to be mere talk, and Paris' policy vis-à-vis Syria is the best example of this.
