Nicolas Sarkozy - President of France

Nicolas Sarkozy - President France

Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate, is elected President of the French Republic with 53-55% of the vote, defeating Socialist Segolene Royal, television projections said.

As of 6:00 PM local time Belgian and Swiss news sources such as Le Soir, RTBF, La Libre Belgique and La Tribune de Geneve have announced Nicolas Sarkozy as the winner of the second round, according to exit polls. The latest CSA estimate shows him winning with 53% of votes cast.

The 2007 French presidential election was held to elect the successor of incumbent Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term. The President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, will represent a generational change, being the first born after World War II and the first not to have been in politics under Charles de Gaulle.

"The French people have called for change. I will carry out that change, because that's the mandate I have received from the French people."

Mr. Sarkozy, 52, former interior and finance minister, ran an extraordinarily disciplined campaign with a united team and a single message: change but not too much change to scare off voters.

Often nicknamed Sarko by both his French supporters and opponents, he wanted to tell his "American friends that they can rely on our friendship ... France will always be next to them when they need us...Friends can think differently."

A White House spokesman said in a written statement that U.S. President George W. Bush called Nicolas Sarkozy to congratulate him on his victory.

"Universal suffrage has spoken," Ms. Royal said. "I wish the next president of the Republic the best in accomplishing his mission in the service of all the French people," she said, according to Reuters.

The first round of France's presidential election was held on April 22, 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy came in first with 31.18% of the votes, ahead of Segolene Royal of the Socialists with 25.87%. In the second round, Nicolas Sarkozy came out on top to win the election with 53.5% of the votes ahead of Segolene Royal with 46.5%. In his speech immediately following the announcement of the election results, Sarkozy stressed the need for France's modernization, but also called for national unity, mentioning that Royal was in his thoughts.

"This is a turning-point for France. A lot of people may not like Nicolas Sarkozy personally, but they thought first that he was much better than his opponent and second that his strategy is the right one for the country," said Dominique Moisi of the French Institute for International Relations.

Source: Reuters, Wikipedia