Just over half the French want the main opposition Socialist Party to win the 2012 presidential election, ending three terms of conservative government, according to an opinion poll by Viavoice. The survey, to be published on Monday in the daily Liberation, found that 53 percent of those surveyed wanted the left to win the election while 37 percent hoped it would lose, according to Reuters. The figures were close to the 55 percent and 35 percent respectively reported in an August 2010 survey, suggesting that the sex assault scandal that knocked former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn out of the race has not tarnished the Socialists. Strauss-Kahn had been the runaway favourite to run for the left in the two-round election next April and May. The new Socialist favourite is former party leader Francois Hollande. Asked whether they wanted a particular candidate to win the election or not, 47 percent of respondents said yes for Hollande, 39 percent said yes for his closest rival Martine Aubry and 29 percent answered yes for Sarkozy, who is widely expected to seek a second term. Centrists Francois Bayrou and Jean-Louis Borloo were close behind with scores of 25 percent and 22 percent respectively. At the same time, the survey showed 62 percent of respondents believed the left would do no better than the right in handling the current economic malaise. -- SPA
