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FRENCH VOTERS CHOOSE SARKOZY'S SOCIALIST OPPONENT
YERKIR.AM
17:10 - 17.10.2011
French Socialist MP Francois Hollande has been crowned favourite
for next year's presidential election, winning the left's primary to
choose a challenger for Nicolas Sarkozy.
The centre-right incumbent is expected to stand for re-election, but
all recent opinion polls show him on course to lose to any left-wing
challenger, and Hollande's victory will serve as a springboard for
his campaign.
The vote was France's first US-style open primary - any voter who said
he or she supports the ideals of the left could vote - and the huge
turnout, estimated at 2.8 million, was hailed by Socialist leaders
as a boost for the battle ahead.
"Tonight, we rally behind our candidate," Socialist leader Martine
Aubry declared after conceding defeat, preparing to welcome her
erstwhile opponent to Socialist Party headquarters to celebrate his
victory and make a speech designed to reunite and motivate activists.
Segolene Royal, who is both Hollande's former partner and the
Socialist's defeated candidate in the 2007 election, said the win was
both an "undeniable advance" and showed supporters' "very strong trust"
in the victor.
Hollande had the backing of the four defeated first-round candidates
and entered the run-off as favourite, but Aubry mounted a tough
fightback, branding him a soft centrist without the steel to defeat
Sarkozy.
Aubry, 61, the former labour minister who gave France its 35-hour
working week, also attacked Hollande's lack of executive experience.
From: A. Papazian
YERKIR.AM
17:10 - 17.10.2011
French Socialist MP Francois Hollande has been crowned favourite
for next year's presidential election, winning the left's primary to
choose a challenger for Nicolas Sarkozy.
The centre-right incumbent is expected to stand for re-election, but
all recent opinion polls show him on course to lose to any left-wing
challenger, and Hollande's victory will serve as a springboard for
his campaign.
The vote was France's first US-style open primary - any voter who said
he or she supports the ideals of the left could vote - and the huge
turnout, estimated at 2.8 million, was hailed by Socialist leaders
as a boost for the battle ahead.
"Tonight, we rally behind our candidate," Socialist leader Martine
Aubry declared after conceding defeat, preparing to welcome her
erstwhile opponent to Socialist Party headquarters to celebrate his
victory and make a speech designed to reunite and motivate activists.
Segolene Royal, who is both Hollande's former partner and the
Socialist's defeated candidate in the 2007 election, said the win was
both an "undeniable advance" and showed supporters' "very strong trust"
in the victor.
Hollande had the backing of the four defeated first-round candidates
and entered the run-off as favourite, but Aubry mounted a tough
fightback, branding him a soft centrist without the steel to defeat
Sarkozy.
Aubry, 61, the former labour minister who gave France its 35-hour
working week, also attacked Hollande's lack of executive experience.
From: A. Papazian