French presidential race discovers a new issue: Science

Science : A parade of presidential hopefuls, none of whom are currently the frontrunners, traveled to Fleurance, a tiny village 700 kilometers south of Paris last weekend, to engage scientists in debate and promise them better times at the annual retreat of Sauvons la Recherche (SLR). The French presidential election will be held in April-May 2007.The two frontrunnerts, Nicholas Sarkozy, the populist minister of the interior and the frontrunner in the conservative party UMP, declined to attend, and Ségolène Royal, the leading Socialist Party (PS) candidate--who would be France’s first female president if elected--agreed to come months ago but canceled at the last minute, angering some of the more than 400 participants. The remaining seven candidates did turn up. Says SLR president Bertrand Monthubert."We have never had an opportunity like this before.”