(VOVworld) - Socialist candidate Francois Hollande defeated French incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential runoff Sunday. Preliminary results showed Hollande with 51% of votes ahead of Sarkozy with 48%. Sarkozy has conceded defeat and sent congratulatory messages to his rival. Final results will be announced early next week.

Socialist candidate Francois Hollande (Photo: Internet)

Hollande becomes the first French Socialist president since François Mitterrand left office in 1995. Meanwhile, Sarkozy, the first one-term French president since 1981, becomes the latest European leader to lose his post in the current economic upheaval.

In his victory speech, Hollande expressed his sincere thanks to his supporters. He promised to make an all-out effort to help the country recover from the crisis while creating equal access to healthcare and educational services for all citizens. The new president said his first task as president is to unite all the people to weather upcoming challenges. He added that to achieve this goal, it’s necessary to boost production to get the country out of the crisis, reduce the budget deficit, control public debt, and maintain a social model that ensures everyone has equal access to public services. Hollande’s supporters showed their confidence in the new president’s promises in an interview with VOV’s Paris correspondent in Bastille square: "I strongly support Hollande’s laundry list. The challenges of the current downturn will make it hard to immediately accomplish all he has promised. But hopefully, it will be achieved during his five-year term despite ongoing difficulties."

Other voters showed greater concern about the challenges facing the new president: "I think it’s hard to be fully optimistic. But, as it’s the decision of the French people and we have to accept the consequences if he doesn’t achieve everything he promised in the campaign."

Power will be transferred within a week and Hollande will attend the G8 summit and the NATO summit next week, followed by a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Francois Hollande was born on August 12^th, 1954, in the city of Rouen.  He joined the Socialist Party in 1979 and became its leader in 1997. Hollande will assume the presidency on May 15^th. During his five-year term, his mission is to help France find its way out of the crushing European debt crisis.