Sarkozy takes French presidency (bitch loses)

"[Voters] have chosen to break with the habits and the ideals of the

past so I will rehabilitate work, authority, morality, respect, merit!" he

said.

Sarkozy takes French presidency

Mr Sarkozy said he would be president of all the French

Conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has won the hotly-contested

French presidential election.

The final count gave Mr Sarkozy 53.06%, compared with 46.94% for

socialist Segolene Royal, with turnout at 85%.

Mr Sarkozy, 52, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, takes over from the

74-year-old Jacques Chirac.

Riot police have fired tear gas at a small group of demonstrators who

were protesting in central Paris against Mr Sarkozy's victory.

According to the French news agency AFP, a few hundred stone-throwing

rioters charged the police in the Place de la Bastille, where 5,000

supporters of Segolene Royal had earlier gathered to hear the results.

Friendship for US

Mr Sarkozy's supporters have gathered for an open-air concert in the

Place de la Concorde, which is expected to continue until the early hours.

In his victory speech, Mr Sarkozy said he would be the president of

all the French.

"France has given me everything, and now it is my turn to give back to

France what France has given me," he said.

He said the US could count on France's friendship, but urged

Washington to take a lead in the fight against climate change.

He also said he believed deeply in European integration, but appealed

to France's partners to understand the importance of social protection.

"[Voters] have chosen to break with the habits and the ideals of the

past so I will rehabilitate work, authority, morality, respect, merit!" he

said.

After he finished speaking at his party headquarters, jubilant

supporters sang a rousing rendition of the French national anthem.

Third defeat

Ms Royal is the first woman ever to have made it to the second round

of a French presidential election.

Conceding defeat - the third in a row for France's Socialist Party -

she thanked 17m French people for their votes, saying she could measure

their sadness and their pain.

"I gave it all my energy, and will continue," she told supporters.

"Something has risen up that will not stop."

She expressed the hope that "the next president of the Republic" would

accomplish his mission at the service of all the French people.

Mr Sarkozy has promised to try to reform France to face the challenges

of the 21st century, with putting the nation back to work at the top of his

agenda.

He has pledged to bring unemployment down from 8.3% to below 5% by

2012.

Police deployed

He is also expected to bring forward policies to cut taxes and keep

trains running during strikes, in the first 100 days after he takes office

on 17 May.

But the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris says he will have to work hard

to unite the French, and try to win round those who voted against him.

More than 3,000 police have been deployed in Paris and its

multi-ethnic suburbs in case Mr Sarkozy's victory sparks a repeat of the

riots seen in 2005.

French pundits greeted the strong turnout as a victory for French

democracy.

Both candidates worked hard to woo the supporters of the third-placed

candidate in round one, centrist Francois Bayrou.

Polls suggest that they each won over 40% of the Bayrou voters, and

that 20% did not cast a ballot in round two.

At the stroke of eight o'clock the giant screen on Paris's Place de la

Concorde beamed the face of Nicolas Sarkozy, and a deafening roar arose from

the crowd.

Thousands of supporters cheered as confirmation came that the centre-right

leader had won the French presidency by a comfortable margin.

Not that the news came as a surprise.

Despite a ban on the publication of late poll results in France, many people

had found near-perfect estimates posted on foreign websites.

"The Belgian media had the latest data," said Henri Vivier, 44, a legal

expert. "News travels at the speed of the light nowadays."

Back to work?

Victory may have been expected, but for Sarkozy fans it was no less sweet.

We are happy because Sarkozy will let people keep their hard-earned

money

Martine Vellard

"I am proud to be French with him as president. He is a man of action, he

doesn't give up," says Laurent Scipio, 55.

Some found creative ways to show their enthusiasm. Pierre Emmanuel Baudouin,

32, had put on a kilt.

"I'm here to celebrate the Auld Alliance and the common aspiration of France

and Scotland to liberty," he said.

"The Scots voted to be free last week. Today the French are doing the same,

as Mr Sarkozy stands for freedom."

Martine Vellard, 52, who runs a small carpentry company, stood atop a small

vehicle bedecked with balloons and tricolour flags.

" We are happy because Sarkozy will let people keep their hard-earned

money," she said. "He will discourage people from living off benefits."

Revolutionary hat

Mr Sarkozy's campaign motto, "Earn more to work more", resonated with many

younger voters too.

Mr Suber wants France to become more like the US

"This election is going to mean the end of idleness and the beginning of

growth," says Breece Suber, 20, who was wearing a 1789-style revolutionary

hat.

Mr Suber - who has dual US and French citizenship - says he wants "France to

become more like the US, where growth is strong because people work".

Thibault Lacaste, a 25-year-old musician, praised Mr Sarkozy for promoting

meritocracy.

Meanwhile Hamed Berete, a 38-ear-old lorry driver with roots in West Africa,

was brandishing a tricolour.

Mr Berete said he approved of all of Mr Sarkozy's policies, including curbs

on immigration:

"France should have a right to decide who comes in," he said. "Those who

want to work are welcome but those who don't want to work are not."

Socialist gloom

The crowd swelled to more than 10,000 as concerts began. A band played songs

by Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind, and Fire and other funky hits.

Pierre Emmanuel Baudouin said Sarkozy 'stands for freedom'

Various celebrities came on stage but Mr Sarkozy's most famous fan, pop

singer Johnny Halliday, never showed up - to the disappointment of some.

The president-elect, however, did make an appearance on the Place de la

Concorde.

He gave a speech that reached out to supporters of defeated Socialist

candidate Segolene Royal.

But this did little to lift the spirits of the Socialists within earshot -

those who had gathered at the party headquarters across the river Seine .

"We are shattered," sighed one of them.

"Sarkozy won because he manipulated the media," said another despondent

Royal activist.

"He is just like [former Italian PM silvio] Berlusconi. We have a fascist in

power!"

Swing of the pendulum

Some, however, argued that Ms Royale had mostly herself to blame for her

defeat.

Swing vote - does the pendulum hold the key to the future?"

Doriana, 22, said: "Sarkozy ran a better campaign. Segolene did not have a

positive message. She only rallied those who were against Sarkozy."

Julien Decadi, a 23-year-old student, thought the party had not chosen the

right candidate.

He says Mrs Royal's rival Dominique Strauss-Kahn - a moderniser and

long-time critic of the old left - "would have had a better chance".

Others blame Ms Royal for exactly the opposite reason.

"She should not have courted the centre," said Kevin Chichepatiche, 19 who

voted for anticapitalist leader Jose Bove in the first round. "She lost

credibility with the left."

Astrid Calvet, 50, found solace in an interesting way. A self-proclaimed

medium, she produced a pendulum to find out how Mr Sarkozy would fare.

When the pendulum swings wildly, she said: "Something terrible will happen

to him and Segolene will be back."