France elects a president in the next two weeks to replace Jacques Chirac, who has served 12 years as French president.

Twelve candidates are vying for the presidency, including several women, among whom Socialist Segolene Royal stands a real chance.

Opinion polls put her neck-and-neck with center-right Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement. Centrist Francois Bayrou of the Union for French Democracy is ranked third, followed by far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The first round of the elections will be held on Sunday. Polling stations will open at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).

If none of the candidates can get more than 50 percent of the vote -- which is usually the case in French history, a run-off election between the two leading candidates will be held on May 6.

This year's campaign, dominated by domestic issues such as unemployment and social unrest in suburbs in 2005, stopped at midnight Friday (2200 GMT), a day before the election, as prescribed by electoral rules, and a media blackout has also been imposed until the closure of the polling stations.

The voter turnout is expected to be high in the first round, analysts said.

President is a powerful figure in French politics. He or she is empowered to name the prime minister, to dissolve parliament and is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The French president previously held a seven-year term. But new rules shortened the tenure to five years.

Source: Xinhua