Upcoming French election will be most unpredictable in decades

FRANCE goes to the polls on Sunday for the first round of a two-stage election which has become the country's most uncertain presidential contest for a generation. Given the recent surge for left-wing veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is backed by the Communist Party, the race has become a potential four-way contest.

Part of the reason why the outcome is so uncertain is that surveys - remarkably - suggest up to a third of the 45.7 million electorate might abstain given the current French angst about politics. Moreover, even among those who intend to vote, around one third are undecided between the 11 candidates, including the four major ones: Mr Melenchon, National Front leader Marine Le Pen, centre-right Republican candidate Francois Fillon and independent, centrist Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Melenchon's recent rise raises the outside prospect of a potential far left and extreme right stand-off between him and Ms Le Pen in the second stage on May 7 (in which the two candidates with the largest votes from Sunday's first round go head-to-head).