A record 16 candidates will line up for the first round of France's presidential election on April 21st, the country's Constitutional Council announced today.
Aside from front-runners President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Mr Lionel Jospin, three Trotskyites on the far left to two far-right xenophobes will also appear on ballot papers.
Under French election rules, each candidate was required to lodge with the Council valid sponsorships from at least 500 elected officials by a midnight deadline on Tuesday.
The number of candidates beats the previous record of 12 in 1974 and reflects what analysts have called the balkanisation of the political scene and lack of interest in the frontrunners.
Mr Chirac and Mr Jospin, who barring an upset will face each other in a May 5th runoff vote, had no problem lining up sponsors.
Yet fringe candidates including far-right leader Mr Jean-Marie Le Pen and right-wing ecologist Ms Corinne Lepage were out collecting signatures until the last moment.
Others failed to clear the hurdle, including Mr Charles Pasqua, a right-wing former party ally of Chirac and Mr Nicolas Miguet, a candidate representing taxpayers who had assured media in the run-up to the deadline that he would make the count.
Mr Miguet said in a statement he would demand a recount after Constitutional Council president Mr Yves Guena said he had counted only 261 valid signatures for him.
While the number of fringe candidates has grown, first round support for the frontrunners has shrunk to unprecedented levels, pollsters say. Only 40-45 per cent of voters say they will cast their ballots for Mr Chirac or Mr Jospin on April 21st.
AFP