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As is the case in the U.S. with important congressional elections coming up soon, the people of France are also preparing for a major election. France will elect a new President next April. The process of choosing candidates is in full swing right now in the major political parties in France. The Socialist Party (called the PS or Parti Socialist- roughly equivalent to the Democrats in the U.S. and the largest party on the left of the political spectrum) is finalizing its list of candidates seeking the nomination. This choice will be decided in November, and before then there will be three televised debates among those seeking to represent the PS. The leader in the polls right now by a large margin is a woman named Segolene Royal. She will be opposed by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, and probably Jack Lang, a long-time top-ranking member of the PS. Lang is expected to make his candidacy official on Tuesday, Oct 3.
The leading candidate on the right of the political spectrum for now is the current Interior Minister and leader of the UMP party, Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy is often outspoken and has made the issue of illegal immigration a major one in this election. Sarkozy is often demonized for his candid remarks, but as a French gentleman told me this summer, he often says what many people are thinking. Sarkozy will have a difficult time winning, however, because the leaders of the current government, also from the UMP party, have low approval ratings and it will be difficult for anyone from the UMP to win. I personally think that if Sarkozy does win, relations between the U.S. and France will improve. His political philosophy is closer to the American free enterprise model, and he says flatly in his recent book that free enterprise simply produces more and better goods and services than does a state run system like communism. There are a number of things about the American system he dislikes, but in general it looks doubtful he would have as hostile an attitude towards the U.S. as does the current regime, in my opinion.
While the U.S. has two major political parties, in France there are many more, ranging from the extreme far left to the far right. There will probably be about a half dozen or so candidates running from different parties. In order to win on the first vote, a person must obtain over 50% of the votes. Otherwise there will be a second round of voting between the top two finishers which occurs two weeks after the first ballot. A second election is often needed since the votes get split up among a number of parties.
It appears possible that both the U.S. and France could have a female President after the next elections.
