France's new president is expected to launch into a series of reforms when he takes office later this month after promising sweeping changes during his campaign.

Nicolas Sarkozy, a pro-American conservative candidate, won 53.06 per cent of the votes in Sunday's runoff presidential election. He beat Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal, who received 46.94 per cent of the vote.

Voter turnout was 85 per cent, a level not seen in France in years, according to final results released Monday.

Sarkozy, leader of the right-of-centre Union for a Popular Movement party, pledged to improve the economy to bring about full employment, to strengthen French culture, to lengthen the 35-hour work week in France,to introduce measures to crack down on crime and to make immigration more difficult.

He takes over from outgoing leader Jacques Chirac.

In a victory speech in Paris Sunday, the president-elect came to the Place de la Concorde, the scene of beheadings and revolutions of the past, to set his own revolutionary course.

"I will not betray you. I will not lie to you. I will not disappoint you," he told his supporters.

But a political observer says Sarkozy is a divisive figure and there were already signs of unrest on Sunday.

Biographer Michael Darmon said the president-elect faces stiff resistance to his planned reforms, including from unions in France that may object to a lengthening of the work week.

"He's going to have to bring together and win the support of a part of French society that's afraid of him," Darmon said in translation.

Other government leaders, he noted, have tried to bring in more modest reforms with little success.

There were skirmishes reported in a few cities, including in Paris, where an estimated 2,000 young people clashed with police.

Scattered violence occurred around France, but there was no widespread violence in the suburbs, where many had threatened riots in the wake of a victory by Sarkozy.
Sarkozy is expected to assume office on May 16.

Uneven turnout in Canada

Francois Lubrina, spokesperson for the Assembly of French People Abroad, a group that represents French expatriates, told CBC News from Montreal that the turnout of French voters in Canada was uneven and seemed to depend on where the voters lived.

Lubrina said Monday that there was a good voter turnout in Montreal and in the rest of Quebec, but the turnout was lower in Toronto and Vancouver.

Montreal was reported to be the home of the largest block of eligible voters in the French election outside of Europe, with 31,400 registered. According to Agence France Presse, there were 46,000 French voters registered in Canada.

In Quebec, Lubrina said French people registered to vote in the election were seen primarily as supporters of Royal.

"The French in Quebec have been voting for Ms. Royal. The majority is more on the left than on the right," he said.

Lubrina said he thinks the election results overall are satisfying because they give Sarkozy a clear mandate to bring about change in French society.

With files from the Associated Press