Paris, May 09: A new poll shows French President Nicolas Sarkozy would lose to Socialist contender Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the first round of the 2012 presidential election.
According to the LH2 survey, Sarkozy would fail to enter the second round of the poll and would receive only 16 percent in the first round against former French Finance Minister Strauss-Kahn, who is projected to win 23 percent of votes, Reuters reported on Sunday.
Strauss-Kahn has yet to reveal whether he will run in the presidential race, but all recent polls have picked him as the preferred candidate for the left.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front party will secure the second place with 17 percent in the first round of May 12 vote, according to the poll.
The result bodes ill for Sarkozy whose political capital is trickling away, particularly over his ruling UMP coalition’s failure in local elections in March as well as a string of ministerial scandals and the government’s failure to tackle high unemployment rates in the country.
The poll indicates, however, that the 55-year-old president would enter the second round against any other Socialist candidate except Strauss-Kahn, trailing in the second place after Francois Hollande or Martine Aubry, and first against Segolene Royal.
According to an opinion poll by the French Institute for Public Opinion on March 12, more than seven out of 10 French people are dissatisfied with the performance of Sarkozy.
Only 29 percent of respondents approved Sarkozy’s performance in March compared with 31 percent in February.
———Agencies