Female opposition for Sarkozy?
2008-11-20 18:26
Paris - French Socialists were choosing a new leader on Thursday who could challenge President Nicolas Sarkozy and set the direction for the once-powerful but long-fractured French left.
Two women headed the tight race: ex-presidential candidate Segolene Royal and the author of France's 35-hour workweek law, Martine Aubry.
They represent two visions of socialism that have clashed in parties around Europe. Royal tends toward the centre and pledges a renewal of stale party dogma, while Aubry says the party should be "anchored on the left".
Their campaign, though, has been more dominated by personal rivalries than politics.
The father of Royal's four children is the outgoing Socialist chief - and he says his ex-partner is the wrong person for the job. The two separated after last year's presidential race and three decades together.
More than 200 000 party members can cast ballots in Thursday's vote. If none of the three candidates wins more than 50%, which is likely, a run-off will be held on Friday.
The voters' choice will set the tone for France's opposition for years to come. The winner will face the mammoth task of trying to regroup the splintered party for the next presidential elections in 2012 and restore its battered credibility as a viable alternative to the conservative Sarkozy.
Sarkozy has undercut the Socialists' long-held arguments against unfettered capitalism, adopting some of their rhetoric amid the financial crisis. His ratings, after slumping earlier this year, are back on the rise.
"We have the obligation to change," Royal said in an interview with Le Monde this week. "The party stands before a crucial choice: to shrivel up or take off, close in on itself or open up to the world."
The Socialists have been beset by infighting since the end of Socialist President Francois Mitterrand's tenure in 1995 after 14 years as chief of state. The Socialists lost the next three presidential elections and have yet to regain power.
The Socialist leadership failed to agree on a new chief at a meeting last weekend electric with personal attacks.
A key candidate, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, was squeezed out - and has since backed Aubry, which could tilt Thursday's vote in her favour.
Aubry authored the 1998 law that introduced a 35-hour workweek to France that drew both ridicule and envy from other countries. Sarkozy has worked to undermine the law, saying it makes the country uncompetitive. But there has been resistance to his reforms.
Royal's fortunes have faltered since she lost her bid to become France's first woman president in May 2007, losing to Sarkozy, but she fought her way back to favour in recent months. In a recent party vote on planned policies for the future, her proposals won out over five others.
Royal's proposals include a "Socialist Facebook" to attract new members and a Europe-wide Socialist forum to find leftist answers to the financial crisis. She's even proposed selling the party headquarters in Paris' Left Bank to save money and symbolise a new start if she wins.
Aubry, 58, has had better luck bringing rival Socialists heavyweights around her but Royal, 55, has more support among the rank and file. The distant third candidate is Benoit Hamon, who represents a far-left faction of the party.
Dominique Moisi, a political analyst at the French Institute for Foreign Relations, warned, "Whoever is secretary general after these elections is extremely weak, extremely discredited, and is confronting a very strong French president."
- AP