PARIS—French presidential candidates held their last major rallies on Thursday, three days ahead of a first round vote that opinion polls suggest will be won by rightist leader Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal.
A late flurry of surveys indicated that Sarkozy, a law and order hardliner, would lead the field on Sunday, with Royal close behind to set up a classic left-right battle at a May 6 run off.
However, the polls have got it very wrong in the past, and the 12 presidential candidates are making a final push for votes in an election that will bring the curtain down on 12 years of rule by the retiring head of state, Jacques Chirac.
Sarkozy, who wants the French to work harder and pay less tax, told 15,000 supporters in the Mediterranean city of Marseille to embrace his dream of a "Renaissance" that would restore France's strength and renew voters' faith in politics.
Royal, aiming to be France's first woman president, took to the stage in the southern city of Toulouse alongside Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose 2004 election victory is an inspiration for the French left.
"Segolene knows how to serve Europe. Segolene is change. Segolene is the future," Zapatero told the cheering crowd.
In 2002, far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen stunned France by beating the Socialist candidate and going forward to the second round, where he was thrashed by Chirac.
Fighting yet again on an anti-immigrant platform that has resonated with working class voters, Le Pen staged his final rally in the seaside resort of Nice, where he accused the political elite of wrecking France's economic and social fabric.
"I am proud to lead you to victory because I feel that change is on the horizon like a sign from heaven. Yes, this farce is over. It is time to get out of this mess," he said.
Personalities in Focus
Opinion polls in recent months have all put Le Pen in fourth place, with centrist candidate Francois Bayrou in third.
A quartet of polls released on Thursday put support for Sarkozy at between 27-29 percent, Royal between 22.5-25 percent, Bayrou at 15-20 percent and Le Pen at 13-15.5 percent.
In an eventual head-to-head, Sarkozy was seen getting between 50-53 percent and Royal 47-50 percent. That is one or two percentage points less than Sarkozy was polling last week.
The election campaign has run against a background of deeply-entrenched worries over jobs, immigration and security, but increasingly focused on personalities—especially that of Sarkozy who has been vilified as a dangerous, divisive force.
"I've had my share of insults and lies," Sarkozy said in Marseille. "When candidates have no ideas, no arguments, no convictions, when they believe in nothing and don't work, they have no other option than insult, lies and insinuation."
Sarkozy wants to promote overtime, restrict union powers and protect French business if elected. He also says he will create a Ministry of Immigration and National Identity—a move critics say is aimed at wooing far-right voters.
Royal combines a left-wing economic platform with traditional social values, promising to hike minimum wages, impose higher taxes on the wealthy, punish firms relocating abroad and introduce boot camp for young offenders.
Bayrou portrays himself as a moderating force and calls on voters to rebel against 25 years of left-right dominion, during which time unemployment has never dropped below 8 percent.
But he suffered a setback on Thursday when the influential Le Monde daily called on the French to vote either Royal or Sarkozy, saying they had the most coherent programs and the strongest teams for eventual government.
He denounced the editorial as "arrogant" during a closing rally near his hometown in southwest France. "Who are these people, where is their patent on democracy?" he said.
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