A second-round run-off vote between Menem and runner-up Néstor Kirchner was scheduled for 18 May.

As the Dominican Republic heads into a second-round presidential vote on June 30, the outcome may be influenced by a grouchy old man capable of causing ruin if he cannot rule.

The calculations are complicated by the dynamics of having a first- and second-round vote in the presidential elections and by Mr. Le Pen's new popularity.

The Clinton administration pushed hard for Mr. Fujimori to hold a second-round vote during a questionable slow count in the days following the first-round balloting on April 9.

A second-round run-off vote between Menem and second-place finisher and fellow Peronist Néstor Kirchner, who had gotten 22%, was scheduled for May 18.

The confusion, still unresolved late Tuesday night, left voters and Mr. Menem's rival unsure as to whether a second-round vote would happen at all.

He won 54.8% of the second-round vote, compared to Schwarzenberg's 45.2%.

While Mr. Chirac and Mr. Jospin are likely to pull through to the second-round vote on May 5, their support has been dropping in recent weeks.

That could give the party and its allies as many as 501 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly after the second-round vote on June 17, pollsters said.

Since no candidate won a majority, a second-round presidential vote was required between Bozizé and Ziguélé.