French Elections
n April 22, Socialist challenger Francois Hollande won a narrow victory over incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of presidential elections. The two will compete in a runoff on May 6. Both finished well ahead of the eight other contenders. The final official results gave Hollande 28.63 percent of the vote and Sarkozy 27.18 percent. The election choice mirrors a division within the French electorate over whether to keep pursuing austerity, as European governments have done to try to overcome the euro zone debt crisis, or to try to create jobs by stimulating growth. Hollande advocates higher taxes…
