The far-right French leader Marine Le Pen gestures during a talk with Ziad Hawat, mayor of Byblos, Lebanon, during a visit to Beirut on Feb. 19. France will choose a new president this spring, in a two-stage election process that for decades has come down to a choice between left-leaning Socialists and a right-of-center party that recently changed its name to Les Rpublicains . This year, however, a third candidate has put the direction of the country very much in doubt.