Five days before the first round of the presidential election, pollsters are completely in the dark. Few dare to make any prediction. The gaps in voting intentions have been continuously narrowing over the past two weeks. The main candidates are neck and neck.
No presidential election under the Fifth Republic has been this uncertain just days before the vote.
In reality, all the usual markers are blurred. Since Franรงois Hollande decided not to run, there is no real incumbent candidate, and therefore no genuine debate about the five-year term’s record. A key element of the campaign before each presidential election.
During the primaries, the favorites were defeated by the outsiders, with voters taking delight in outsmarting the predictions and proving the polls wrong.
According to opinion polls, there aren’t more undecided voters a week before the presidential election this time than in previous ones. But the usual reference points have vanished.
In political headquarters, feelings are mixed: hope mingles with fear. Nothing is lost, everything is possible, no position is secure, everyone is vulnerable.
