French Voters Pick Sarkozy To Be President; Turnout High

PARIS, May 6 — Nicolas Sarkozy, the former interior minister, was elected president of France today, sweeping into office in a decisive victory that keeps the right in power for another five years.

Nicolas Sarkozy celebrated his victory in Paris on Sunday evening.

With about 86 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Sarkozy, the conservative candidate, won 53.3 percent, according to preliminary results from the French Interior Ministry. His Socialist Party rival, Ségolène Royal, received 46.7 percent, ending her quest to become Frances first woman president and dealing a severe blow to her party. Turnout was estimated at 85 percent of Frances 44.5 million registered voters.

To all those French who did not vote for me, I want to say that beyond political battles, beyond differences of opinion, for me there is only one France, Mr. Sarkozy told supporters in Paris.

I want to tell them that I will be president of all the French, he said, according to Reuters.

Mr. Sarkozy, 52, the 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.

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.

Ms. Royals direct grass-roots outreach to the French people and her pledge to be their protector was revolutionary. But Ms. Royal, a former schools and environment minister, found herself in the odd position of being the candidate of her Socialist Party without enjoying the support of its elite.

Her campaign was fraught with mixed messages, defections and shifting strategies. She never seemed to convince voters that she had enough substance for this powerful office.

Mr. Sarkozys victory means that the Union for a Popular Movement, the party founded by President Jacques Chirac and headed by Mr. Sarkozy, will control the presidential Élysée Palace for a total of 17 years.

Numerous polls had shown Mr. Sarkozy, 52 years old, leading the race, sometimes by 10 points over Ms. Royal. The 53-year-old Ms. Royal was the first woman to ever qualify for the runoff of the presidential election.

Mr. Sarkozys style as a tough-talking politician who promised to make the French work harder won him 31.2 percent of the vote in the first round of voting. Ms. Royal cashed in her more consensual image, the nurturing mother figure who pledged to reform France without brutalizing it and received 25.9 percent of the vote.

I voted for Sarkozy, said Florence Netzier, a 48 year-old marketing specialist after she cast her ballot in the Ninth Arrondissement of Paris. For his program, because of what he promises on labor and retirement pensions. Ms. Netzier also likes Ms. Royal, particularly her personality, but, she said, I dont trust her capacity to make alliances with others, to put in place what she said she wants to do.

This view is expressed by many of Ms. Royals supporters, with a majority of her backers telling pollsters they chose her either because of loyalty to the socialist party or because they oppose Mr. Sarkozy, mainly on his personality.

I voted for Sego, but Im not convinced, said Sylvie Murelli, a 50-year-old retail real estate developer, after she had voted in Paris. I am a Socialist by tradition. But even so, the measures that Mr. Sarkozy announced, they are not bad. But he scares me. In itself, if he was able to do what he says, it wouldnt be a bad thing.

Even if she supported Ms. Royal, Ms. Murelli said she could live with seeing Mr. Sarkozy move into Élysée Palace.

I wouldnt necessarily be unhappy, she said. I dont like how divisive he is, but we will see.

The pleasant weather and temperatures did not appear to have affected turnout. There is also the temptation to go away for the four-day weekend ending Tuesday, which is a holiday in France.

The official campaign ended on Friday night, giving the French a day of respite from a campaign that has captured the minds of the country. Daily polls and sometimes tense speeches and remarks directed by one candidate reached a fever pitch in a face-to-face televised debate on Wednesday, which Mr. Sarkozy appeared to have won, according to polls.

The two media-savvy candidates, Ms. Royal and Mr. Sarkozy, are also from a generation born after World War II, and the presence in the runoff in 2002 of the far right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen also contributed to building a high-stakes race, with a turnout close to 84 percent in the first round two weeks ago.

James Kanter contributed reporting from Aubervilliers, France, and Katrin Bennhold and Maia de la Baume from Paris.

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