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Sarkozy 'dangerous,' warns Royal

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PARIS, France (CNN) -- Socialist candidate Segolene Royal on Friday compared her conservative opponent in Sunday's presidential election to President Bush and described him as a "dangerous choice."

Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to get tough on crime and immigration, cut unemployment and liberalize the French economy.

Royal, told French radio on Friday morning she would "fight to the finish," warning that Sarkozy's tough stance on law and order would plunge the country into violence -- a reference to his role in curbing protests as interior minister during the 2005 Paris riots.

"The choice of Nicolas Sarkozy is a dangerous choice, I do not want France to be oriented toward a system of brutality," Royal said on RTL radio.

Royal added that Sarkozy, who has topped every opinion poll since collecting the most votes in the first round of voting on April 22, could not even set foot in some deprived suburbs without provoking unrest.

"When a candidate has so much nerve to tell lies and counter-truths and cannot even go everywhere in the country, then yes, I think this candidature is a risk."

In a separate interview published by Le Parisien newspaper Royal accused Sarkozy of mimicking George Bush's "compassionate conservatism."

"[Sarkozy] carries the same neo-conservative ideology. He doesn't hesitate to envisage dismantling public services, when we badly need nurses and teachers," the newspaper quoted her as saying.

Sarkozy, who in a fiery televised debate on Wednesday watched by 20 million people questioned whether Royal posessed the temperament to be president, retorted that his opponent could "feel the ground giving way beneath her feet."

"She's not in a good mood this morning. It must be the opinion polls," he told Europe 1 radio, adding: "I am waiting serenely for the French people's choice."

In final rallies on Thursday evening, both candidates urged their supporters to come out in force on Sunday.

Royal, bidding to become France's female president, told 25,000 supporters in the northern city of Lille that voting for a woman would be an "audacious choice," The Associated Press reported.

"The victory that we want so much, that we desire so much for France, that victory is at hand," she said.

Sarkozy, addressing supporters in Montpellier in the south, vowed to govern "without hatred" in a "disparate coalition."

Campaigning ends tonight at midnight local time with voting in some French overseas territories due to begin on Saturday.

Both candidates were continuing their efforts Friday to win over voters who failed to back them in last month's first round. Royal spent the day in Brittany, western France, while Sarkozy was visiting the Alps.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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