The French constitutional Council has published the list of the candidates for the presidency on the 19^th March, six week before the first round of the elections. Twelve candidates will debate until the 22^nd of April, and only two of them will compete during the second round, which will take place on the 6^th of June.

The French constitutional Council has published the list of the candidates for the presidency on the 19^th March, six week before the first round of the elections. Twelve candidates will debate until the 22^nd of April, and only two of them will compete during the second round, which will take place on the 6^th of June.

Ségolène Royal (socialist party) and Nicolas Sarkozy (right party), who were the favourite candidates during these last months, are now threatened by a new challenger: François Bayrou (centrist party). This man could be on the ballot during the second round against Nicolas Sarkozy on the 6^th of May, and has quite a good chance of winning. The French media consider his candidature a real phenomenon, since he proposes an alternative programme between the interests of the right and the left.

During the last elections in 2002, there were 16 candidates, and 10 of them were from the left side, which lead to a division of the voices. It weakened the position of the socialist party and strengthened the right wing. Besides this, the leftist parties are still divided in this new presidential campaign and Ségolène Royal will have a lot of difficulties to reach the second round.

The right wing candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, will apply for the presidency for the 4^th time in his carrier. He can also be a serious competitor, as he beat the socialist Lionel Jospin in 2002 and went to the second round against the current president, Jacques Chirac.

For the moment, it’s quite hard to forecast who will succeed Jacques Chirac. The debate will be very fruitful and very different from the traditional right/left fight for the presidency.