Nicolas Sarkozy, presidential candidate of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), would defeat the Socialist Party (PS) candidate Segolene Royal in the second round of the forthcoming French presidential elections by garnering 55 percent of the total votes, according to a study published over the weekend by research firm TNS-SOFRES.

Sarkozy will obtain 33 percent of the votes cast during the first round of the elections, one percentage point higher than that in the last opinion poll conducted between Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, according to the study conducted on Feb. 14-15 for three media houses including French radio RTL, French daily Le Figaro and French television LCI by the Institute for Market Research and International Opinion.

Royal is expected to receive 26 percent of support during this first round, the poll indicated.

The Union for French Democracy (UDF) candidate Francois Bayrou is projected to receive 12 percent while candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen goes up a half point to bring his tally to 13 percent in the same round.

This opinion poll which was conducted over a sample population of 1,000 people, representing the population of France aged 18 years and above, is the 23rd such poll to project Sarkozy's victory in the past one month.

Source: Xinhua