France could take a sharp turn left unless President Nicolas Sarkozy can convince voters to switch allegiances in the next two weeks when a runoff ballot takes place.
With 93 per cent of the ballots counted late Sunday night, Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande had 28.4 per cent of the vote and Sarkozy had 27 per cent, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry.
Turnout in the election was also higher than expected at about 80 per cent, the ministry said.
Surprisingly, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who ran on an anti-immigration platform largely directed at Muslims, finished a strong third with about 18 per cent of the vote.
A runoff ballot between the two top finishers will take place May 6.
Hollande vowed Sunday night to cut France's huge debt, boost economic growth and unite the country after what he called Sarkozy's divisive term.
"Tonight I become the candidate of all the forces who want to turn one page and turn over another," Hollande told a cheering crowd in Tulle, central France.
Speaking at his campaign headquarters in Paris, Sarkozy said he recognized voters' concerns about jobs and immigration, and "the concern of our compatriots to preserve their way of life."
Although Hollande should be feeling confident right now, the strong showing by Le Pen could spell trouble for the left in the runoff vote, Eleonore Lepinard told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel in a telephone interview from Florence, Italy on Sunday.
"She has managed to gather and round up many voters, up to 20 per cent, so this is worth concern for the left right now because it's much higher than predicted," the University of Montreal political science professor said.
Those votes could shift to Sarkozy in the runoff ballot.
But the left has improved significantly since the last election in 2007 and that could deliver the presidency to the socialists, she said.
There's concern a Hollande victory would change the economic landscape of the 17-nation eurozone as it battles its way through an economic crisis.
Lepinard said the socialist leader has been careful to keep his plans for the country "moderate" in order to appear as a presidential candidate.
"It's not going to be a 180-degree change for sure," she said.
Worries that a leftist-ruled France would create divisions in European economic policy aren't realistic because the country can't direct eurozone policy by itself, Lepinard said.
The only way a major shift in economic policy could take place on the continent would be if voters in other countries like Germany followed France over to the left politically, she said.
It's more likely Hollande would reform domestic tax policies that he argues favour the wealthy under Sarkozy's rule, Lepinard said.
It's also going to be an uphill battle for the French president to turn the vote around to win in the runoff ballot, she said.
"Sarkozy had managed to build a lot of high expectations because he said he would radically reform France and my guess is for a lot of people he did not reform France enough," Lepinard said.
Others believe he reformed the economy too much and steered France away from its traditional welfare state policies, she said.
"So, there's a lot of discontent on the right and on the left," Lepinard said.
Sarkozy said he wants three debates before the runoff -- on the economy, society and international affairs. But Hollande said one debate, as planned, is enough.
"Because (Sarkozy) is in a very difficult situation he wants to change the rules. But you can't change the rules," Hollande said as he left Tulle late Sunday night.
"When you are a bad student, you get bad grades, you cannot ask to change professors."
With files from The Associated Press
