Newly-elected Socialist party candidate François Hollande will be cheered by two new polls that predict a clear victory over Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections.

"/> Newly-elected Socialist party candidate François Hollande will be cheered by two new polls that predict a clear victory over Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections.

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FRANCOIS HOLLANDE

Socialists ride high in new poll

Newly-elected Socialist party candidate François Hollande will be cheered by two new polls that predict a clear victory over Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections.

Published: 19 October 2011 08:52 CEST
Socialists ride high in new poll

A survey by polling organization Ifop for Paris-Match, published on Tuesday, said that 59 percent of people hope to see the left win in the elections planned for April and May 2012.

With six months to go until the first round of voting on April 22nd, the poll shows the Socialists are in a much stronger position than they were at the same point before the last election in 2007.

“In October 2006, six months before the presidential election when Nicolas Sarkozy beat Ségolène Royal, the number hoping for a victory of the left (49 percent) was much lower than today,” said Ifop in a statement.

In the French system, voters have a wide choice of candidates (12 in 2007) in a first round of voting. The two leading candidates then go to a second round run-off two weeks later. Voting will take place on April 22nd and May 6th 2012.

A separate poll by CSA for newspaper 20 Minutes on Wednesday gave François Hollande a second round score of 62 percent against Nicolas Sarkozy on 38 percent. 

“Since we started these polls in January, we’ve never seen a Socialist candidate with such a high score,” said Jérôme Sainte-Marie of CSA.

President Sarkozy is yet to announce he will stand in the election. The 20 Minutes poll found that 39 percent of his UMP party supporters would prefer him to be the party’s candidate over his potential rivals, prime minister François Fillon (27 percent) and foreign minister Alain Juppé (25 percent).

Other candidates who have already declared they will run include Marine Le Pen of the Front National, Eva Joly for the Greens, Jean-Luc Mélenchon for the left-wing Front de Gauche and Philippe Poutou for the anti-capitalist party.

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How Extinction Rebellion is training up budding climate activists in Berlin

Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion is staging protests around the world to demand drastic environmental protection. Here's how they're training people to take part in civil disobedience in Berlin.

Published: 14 October 2019 12:15 CEST
How Extinction Rebellion is training up budding climate activists in Berlin
Extinction Rebellion protesters near Berlin's Potsdamer Platz. Photo: DPA

Seated on the floor, Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists are rehearsing blocking a street at the base of a disused building
in central Berlin, one of their planned actions to pressure governments to “tell the truth” about “climate and ecological emergency”.

After the police issue three warnings, “now they're going to clear you out. It's time to close ranks on the ground!” shouts Tori, an energetic 20-year-old organizer.

A young Berliner, she and other activists prefer not to be named.

READ ALSO: Climate activists block traffic in Berlin as protests heat up

On this cold autumn morning, the XR group is training non-violent civil disobedience, a core technique of the movement since it was founded in Britain last year.

Around 150 people, from dyed-in-the-wool supporters to total climate protest beginners, have gathered at the “House of Statistics”, a former East German government building close to the unmistakeable TV tower at Alexanderplatz.

In a crash course lasting just three hours, they are being integrated into a global environmentalist movement that has made itself felt across the world since Monday.

The roughly gender-balanced attendees are mostly young, between 20 and 30, and white.

Sitting on the ground wearing woollen hats and scarves against the long hours exposed to the chill, the would-be demonstrators fold their arms beneath their thighs.

'Little package'

“Turn yourself into a little package,” one of the organizers advises.

His dreadlocks tied into a bun, he encourages participants to come together in “buddy groups” of ten or so strong to provide mutual support during the sit-ins.

Police with demonstrators in Berlin. Photo: DPA

Then fellow activists playing the role of police begin lifting them from the ground to clear them away.

“If I'm arrested, should I let them take my photo and my fingerprints?” asks one man.

“Can I wear an animal face mask?” asks another.

A third wonders “Can I ask them for vegan food while I'm in custody?”

Now the assembly have gathered around a disused dodgem car stand and are passing around a flask of hot tea.

“Hide your face as little as possible during an action… keep ID on you…leave your mobile phone at home,” Tori advises.

READ ALSO: What are the key points of Merkel's new climate strategy?

Everyone should “ask themselves what their limits are” before blocking a bridge or stopping car traffic, she adds, saying none of the 150 people present should feel bad about leaving a barricade before the police arrive or failing to expose themselves to arrest.

A 28-year-old student calling himself “the lion” tells AFP he's happy to go all the way.

“Civil disobedience is the only way to make my voice heard,” he believes.

'Pacifism'

Even so, “I'm a pacifist, and I've never been in a fight,” the young man adds.

Nearby, two women are following XR's guidelines by marking a phone number for a legal advice service on their arms, giving them a contact in case they are arrested.

“Extinction Rebellion does not commit crimes,” Tori tells her audience.

XR Protesters wear red at the Brandenburg Gate. Photo: DPA

“It's very important that you don't attack anyone either. Our top priority is non-violence,” she insists, repeating the message several times.

Around 2pm, the training is over, and there is no time for a break before another hundred-odd people arrive for the day's second session.

“Back when we started in February, we were doing one or two training sessions a month. Now it's three per week, and five per day these last few days,” she tells AFP.

Another activist shows up asking “if I'm cleared out by the police, am I allowed to come back and rejoin the sit-in?”, dragging the young trainer back into her work.

By Yannick Pasquet

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