Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal finished first and second in Sunday's first round of the French presidential election, according to first estimates by TF 1 television, based on figures provided by TNS-Sofres, according to DPA. Sarkozy, the candidate of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement, and the Socialist Party's Royal will square off on May 6 to determine who will head the French state for the next five years. Based on about 15 per cent of the votes cast, Sarkozy was credited with 30 per cent of the vote and Royal picked up 25.2 per cent. Centrist Francois Bayrou came in third, with 18.3 per cent, ahead of right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen, who garnered 11.5 per cent of the vote. Due to warm, sunny weather and an intensely fought campaign, voter participation was estimated to be near an all-time high for postwar France, with about 84.5 per cent of the country's 44.5 million registered voters casting their ballots on Sunday.
