French presidential election, 2012

The first round of the 2012 French presidential election will take place on 22 April 2012, with a second round run-off, if necessary, being held on 6 May 2012. The incumbent president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is running for a second successive (and, under the terms of the constitution, final) term in the election. Qualification for the first ballot In order to qualify for the first ballot for President, a candidate must collect the signatures of at least five hundred elected representatives among a total of more than 47,000; these can be mayors, general councillors, regional councillors, deputies, senators, members of the European Parliament elected in France. Ten candidates have qualified in 2012:

• The Greens: MEP and former magistrate Eva Joly
 
• National Front: Party President and MEP Marine Le Pen was selected on 16 May 2011.
 
• Union for a Popular Movement: On 15 February 2012, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he was running for a second five year term.
 
• Left Front: Jean-Luc Mélenchon MEP.
 
• New Anticapitalist Party:Philippe Poutou
 
• Workers' Struggle:Nathalie Arthaud
 
• Solidarité et progrès:Jacques Cheminade
 
• Democratic Movement:François Bayrou, president of MoDem and MP, confirmed his candidacy on 22 August 2011.
 
• Mayor and Member of Parliament Nicolas Dupont-Aignan
 
• Socialist Party: President of the General Council ofCorrèze, former First Secretary of the Socialist Party and MP François Holland
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