Incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted his rival Francois Hollande’s victory in the runoff presidential vote on Sunday.
“Hollande was elected President of France, we’ve got to respect this choice,” Sarkozy said at a meeting with his supporters in Paris.
The official vote count is still ongoing, with the final results to be announced early Monday, but preliminary results, exit polls and various French media give to Hollande, a candidate of the French Socialist Party, between 50.8 and 52 percent, with about 48 to 49 percent for his opponent.
The turnout stood at 81.6 percent after more than 63 percent of the ballots were counted, according to the French Interior Ministry.
