We started with 10 candidates and are now down to two.
Gone are the Left Front ( Communist ) Party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the Green's Europe-Ecology of Eva Joly, the Arise the Republic Party of Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the Workers' Struggle Party of Nathalie Arthaud, the Solidarity and Progress Party of Jacques Cheminade, the New Anticapitalist Party of Philippe Poutou, the Democratic Movement of François Bayrou and last but not least the National Front ( Far Right ) of Marine Le Pen.
I know, that's a list long enough to make anyone's head spin!
Two weeks ago, after the " Premier Tour " ( the First Round ) we were finally left with 2 options.
The Socialist Party of François Hollande, the candidate who was chosen to replace the now infamous DSK.....
and
The Union for a Popular Movement of our current president Nicolas Sarkozy.
French living overseas have been kept informed and have received many emails and flyers about the various candidates. We have been able to cast our votes at the local French Consulate ( if we are lucky to live in a large town ) or at the local Alliance Française, at a local center where a representative of the French government came to supervise and gather our votes or by electing a family member in France to cast our ballot.
In the United States, we are asked to go the the polls one day earlier so our votes will be counted by Sunday night. So, many of us will go to the Houston French Consulate ( on Post Oak Blvd ) this coming Saturday.
In his flyer Nicolas tells us we have to make a historical choice that will affect our future and France's destiny ( ".. vous avez un choix historique à faire, qui engage votre avenir et le destin de la France.")
In his flyer François tells us that by electing him we will decide to write a new page for France's history ( "..c'est vous qui déciderez d'écrire une nouvelle page de l'histoire de France...")
Serious stuff indeed!
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean the media have been busy spinning their wheels. Apparently it's a done deal. François is definitely going to be our next leader. Everyone loves him!
Which means that 28.63% of the 77.95% of the French voted for him.
Nicolas came second with 27.18% of the 77.95% of the electorate.
It's down to the wire.
The media also tell us Angela Merkel cannot stand François and much prefers her pal " Monsieur Bling- Bling " ( Nicolas' nickname ).
What an exciting week-end we have ahead of us.
For those who want to know more about the French election process.
Out of 46,03,545 registered voters.
35,885,739 voted ( 77.95% ), i.e cast a ballot that could be legally counted.
9,451,687 ( 20.53% ) abstained
700,119 ( 1.52% ) voted "no preference".
I bet Marianne is holding her breath....
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