PARIS -- They've been a couple in a bristly arranged marriage, and now they're facing off to see who gets the furniture.

After five years bound together in a delicate power-sharing arrangement, conservative President Jacques Chirac and Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin will compete Sunday in the first round of France's presidential elections, the front-runners among 16 candidates hoping to occupy the gilded halls of the Elysee Palace.

Neither Chirac, 69, an expansive Gaullist who warms to crowds, nor Jospin, 64, a study in caution, has captivated the electorate. But barring a major surprise, the two are expected to win the most votes and face each other in a runoff May 5. They have been nearly neck-and-neck in polls, with a recent slight tilt in Chirac's favor.

Vitriolic personal attacks have marked the campaign on both sides. A truce called to bring dignity to the debate was broken by Jospin last month when he told reporters Chirac was "tired," "old" and "used up."

Both men have reason to worry. The record number of first-round candidates -- eight on the right and eight on the left -- and the expected low turnout could damage both.

About a third of the electorate could stay home, polls show, a signal of a disillusioned citizenry losing faith in a political elite whose faces have become a permanent fixture. Chirac and Jospin dueled for the presidency seven years ago.

Amid apathy toward the front-runners, extremists have gained ground. Recent polls have shown far-right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen with about 14 percent support, and Trotskyist candidate Arlette Laguiller with 7-10 percent.

At his final campaign rally Wednesday, Jospin asked voters to give him a "solid position," while Chirac wound up his campaign Thursday with a plea to "give me the means" and told voters: "On Sunday, each of you will have a part of France's destiny in your hands."

Both men are desperate to avoid prolonging the power-sharing arrangement that began in 1997, when Chirac called an early legislative vote in a bid to strengthen the right -- only to watch leftists sweep to a surprise landslide victory and name Jospin as prime minister.

Five years later, each man is desperately seeking a strong base to ensure a decisive victory in a legislative vote in June.