French presidential rivals in last ditch TV debate

Nicolas Sarkozy faces Francois Hollande in a "moment of truth" television debate on Wednesday that could be the French president's last chance to avoid defeat at the hands of his socialist challenger in Sunday's election runoff.

The conservative president and his centre-left rival have been at each other's throats for months, with Sarkozy accusing Hollande of being incompetent and a liar and Hollande calling the incumbent a "failed president" and "a nasty piece of work."

Trailing Hollande despite an aggressive campaign, Sarkozy will throw everything into a two and a half hour verbal duel with the Socialist who, despite his bland manner, is a nimble debater himself.

"It's not a contest of words, it's a moment of truth," Sarkozy told journalists this week, as an aide let slip to Reuters that the incumbent will spend most of Wednesday holed up at home preparing for the battle of his life.

"Sarkozy needs to swing 1.5 million people to his side. It won't be easy but that doesn't mean it's impossible," Bernard Sananes, head of the CSA polling institute, told BFM TV.

Blamed for the country's economic problems and widely disliked because of his brash personal style, Sarkozy is the most unpopular president to run for re-election and the first in modern history to lose a first-round vote to a challenger.

He began campaigning weeks after the more plodding Hollande, vowing to boost industrial competitiveness, hold referendums on policy, crack down on tax exiles and make the unemployed retrain if they wanted to receive benefits.

More recently, he vowed to slash immigration, claimed Hollande would drive France towards economic catastrophe and threatened to pull out of Europe's border-free Schengen zone unless European Union borders are strengthened.

Hollande enjoys a six to 10 point lead for the May 6 runoff, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Tuesday refused to endorse Sarkozy, instead telling her six million voters to make their own choice.

Still, a daily opinion poll by Ifop showed a narrowing of Hollande's lead to seven points on Tuesday from 10 points the day after the first-round vote.

The debate comes as the race has been clouded by mudslinging and sleaze allegations, with Sarkozy filing a lawsuit against a news website that alleged Muammar Gaddafi's government sought to fund his 2007 campaign.