He said that after 35 years in politics and 10 years at the top of government, he would now become a simple "Frenchman among the French". The defeat of the most unpopular French president ever to run for re-election was not simply the result of the global financial crisis or eurozone debt turmoil.
It was also down to the intense public dislike of the man viewed by many as the "president of the rich" who had swept to victory in with a huge mandate to change France. The majority of French people felt he had failed to deliver on his promises, and he was criticised for his ostentatious display of wealth, favouring the rich and leaving behind over 2.
Political analysts said anti-Sarkozy sentiment had become a cultural phenomenon in France. Hours before the official announcement, hordes of cheering supporters began gathering at Paris's Place de la Bastille, a flashpoint of the French revolution, where the left had celebrated Mitterrand's first historic victory in The right has held the French presidency since Jacques Chirac's victory in Hollande's first move as president will be to push Germany to renegotiate Europe's budget discipline pact to include a clause on growth.
He has vowed to push growth measures to the centre of Brussels' handling of the eurozone crisis. Manuel Valls, tipped for a cabinet post, said Hollande now had to reconcile a France that had been divided during Sarkozy's term. Hollande's victory comes after a brutal and vitriolic campaign marked by the high score of the farright Front National's Marine Le Pen, who came third in the first round with Hollande had secured about 51 percent of the vote while Mr.
Sarkozy, of the center-right Union for a Popular Movement, had about 49 percent. Opinion pollsters suggested that the final result would be closer to 52 percent versus 48 percent. Sarkozy said in a gracious concession speech shortly after the polls closed. Sarkozy said. Speaking earlier to party members, Mr. The election in France and the parliamentary election in Greece on Sunday have been closely watched in European capitals and particularly in Berlin, where Chancellor Angela Merkel has led the drive to cure the euro zone debt and banking crisis with deep budget cuts and caps on future spending.
Hollande will make an early visit to Berlin, but Ms. Merkel herself on Sunday was also watching results of state elections in Schleswig-Holstein, where exit polls indicated that her party was losing a fight to hold on to the state Parliament. Merkel is not viewed as having much room domestically to compromise on crucial issues of inflation and debt limits.
Sarkozy is only the latest of a string of European incumbents, from both left and right, to lose elections in a larger popular revolt against budget-cutting and tax rises in a time of recession and high unemployment.
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