Paris:
Socialist Francois Hollande was on track to defeat right-wing incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy as France saw the final day of campaigning today before its presidential election run-off.
Boosted by an endorsement from centrist Francois Bayrou, Hollande urged voters to hand him an "ample victory" on Sunday so he would have a strong mandate to implement his left-wing programme and fight EU-driven austerity.
Polls showed Sarkozy, who insisted the race was still close, narrowing the gap slightly but still five to seven points behind the frontrunner.
"I want an ample victory," Hollande told RTL radio. "If the French people must make a choice, they should do so clearly, overwhelmingly, so the winner has the capacity and means to act."
Increasingly confident, Hollande said he would get to work straight away.
"I will have no grace period," he said. "The country's problems will not disappear with the eventual departure of Nicolas Sarkozy. He won't take the public debt, unemployment and social problems with him."
Sarkozy, the first incumbent to ever lose a first-round vote, said the race was not over and urged his supporters to flock to the polls.
"I feel there will be a very strong turnout in the second round and that really we are in a state of very close equality. It will play on very little," he told Europe 1 radio.
Boosted by an endorsement from centrist Francois Bayrou, Hollande urged voters to hand him an "ample victory" on Sunday so he would have a strong mandate to implement his left-wing programme and fight EU-driven austerity.
Polls showed Sarkozy, who insisted the race was still close, narrowing the gap slightly but still five to seven points behind the frontrunner.
"I want an ample victory," Hollande told RTL radio. "If the French people must make a choice, they should do so clearly, overwhelmingly, so the winner has the capacity and means to act."
Increasingly confident, Hollande said he would get to work straight away.
"I will have no grace period," he said. "The country's problems will not disappear with the eventual departure of Nicolas Sarkozy. He won't take the public debt, unemployment and social problems with him."
Sarkozy, the first incumbent to ever lose a first-round vote, said the race was not over and urged his supporters to flock to the polls.
"I feel there will be a very strong turnout in the second round and that really we are in a state of very close equality. It will play on very little," he told Europe 1 radio.
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