Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande urged voters to turn out for Sunday’s first round of the French presidential vote, warning “the game is not over” despite his strong lead over Nicolas Sarkozy. With polls showing a large number of undecided voters and many planning not to vote at all, Hollande told AFP in an interview that voters anxious to rid the country of Sarkozy needed to back him in the first round. “It is in these next hours that many in France will make their choice. I can see that there is still some hesitation on whether or not to go vote,” Hollande said. “My approach is clear: to convince voters to the end that the first round carries the second,” he said. Polls show French voters are set to turn their backs on Sarkozy after a single five-year term and choose Hollande in Sunday’s first round of the presidential vote and a run-off two weeks later. But they also show a large portion of voters remain undecided — nearly one in four, according to an OpinionWay-Fiducial poll released Wednesday — and that more than a quarter of voters plan to stay home. Hollande is hoping for a resounding first-round win to keep up his momentum and is worried that a lower turnout could favour Sarkozy or the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, whose hard-core supporters are more likely to vote. “I can feel each day the support but also the apprehension, as if something could happen to prevent us from succeeding,” Hollande said. “And it is true, the game is not over, nothing is done,” Hollande said. With polls showing voters turned off by Sarkozy’s hyperactive style and ties to France’s wealthy elite during his five-year term since 2007, Hollande vowed to tone down the presidency if he wins. He said his presidency would be “marked by changes in method and behaviour, a presidency that is modest for the one in the role but ambitious for the country.” In a clear dig at Sarkozy, he said he would be “a president in service to his country and not to his own ambition.” Amid speculation that he could reach out to far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon or centrist Francois Bayrou to ensure his victory in the run-off, Hollande said there would be no between-round deals. “There is no place in a presidential election for negotiations between parties. No bartering, no concessions, no exchanges,” Hollande said. On the international front, Hollande reiterated his promise to withdraw French forces from Afghanistan by the end of the year if elected. “The withdrawal will begin the day after the election and will finish by the end of 2012,” he said. “Cooperation between France and Afghanistan will continue for development and for the training of the Afghan military.”
