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HOLLANDE TO CHALLENGE SARKOZY IN 2012 PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
Tert.am
09:55 17.10.11
Francois Hollande has been elected the French Socialist Party's
candidate for the 2012 presidential vote when he is expected to
challenge Nicolas Sarkozy, BBC news reportedd.
His rival, Martine Aubry, conceded victory in Sunday's primary run-off
before final results were known.
In his victory speech, Hollande said he would champion those who could
"no longer bear" Mr Sarkozy's policies.
Opinion polls suggest he could beat President Nicolas Sarkozy, who
has not formally declared his own bid.
Mr Hollande had a lead of 56% to 44% over his rival in the count.
It is the first time voters have taken part in a US-style primary race,
and some 2.7 million voters took part in the run-off.
One of Mr Sarkozy's top allies dismissed Mr Hollande's election result
as weak.
Francois Hollande has been lucky. He was lucky because the man tipped
to win the Socialist primary - Dominique Strauss-Kahn - disqualified
himself in a sexual escapade in a Manhattan hotel. And he was lucky
because his eventual rival - former minister Martine Aubry - is hardly
the most charismatic of politicians.
But Francois Hollande also worked hard for this victory. More
than a year ago he started planning for the leadership race. He has
criss-crossed the country building up networks of support. And he has
staked out a careful position that manages to look both left-wards
(to the party's official programme and its commitments to the public
sector) and centre-wards (with promises of fiscal responsibility to
get France through the debt crisis).
Now comes the hard part. Francois Hollande has shown that he is a
consensual figure, with a genial character that makes him hard to
dislike. But does he really have what it takes to go through months
of brutal campaigning against Nicolas Sarkozy - and then lead France
through the difficult years that surely lie ahead?
Remember: this is a man who has never once in his life held ministerial
office, even at a junior level. But then, as his supporters say,
nor had Barack Obama.
Speaking at Socialist headquarters in Paris, Mr Hollande said:
"I have heard the anger and concerns of a great number of people,
unemployment, job insecurity, high rents, healthcare which is becoming
more and more inaccessible.
"I have noticed the concerns about our common future, the failures
of globalisation, the failings of Europe, the environment."
"France must find a plan again which will give it back all of its
meaning," Mr Hollande said, adding that he would "show a different
vision of the presidency".
He would, he said, be "the candidate of respect and dialogue".
"I want to offer France's youth a better life than ours: I want to
put the magic back in the French dream," he said.
In her concession speech, Ms Aubry, who leads the Socialist Party,
said she welcomed Mr Hollande's victory and would invest all her
"strength and energy to ensure that he is the president of France
seven months from now".
Tert.am
09:55 17.10.11
Francois Hollande has been elected the French Socialist Party's
candidate for the 2012 presidential vote when he is expected to
challenge Nicolas Sarkozy, BBC news reportedd.
His rival, Martine Aubry, conceded victory in Sunday's primary run-off
before final results were known.
In his victory speech, Hollande said he would champion those who could
"no longer bear" Mr Sarkozy's policies.
Opinion polls suggest he could beat President Nicolas Sarkozy, who
has not formally declared his own bid.
Mr Hollande had a lead of 56% to 44% over his rival in the count.
It is the first time voters have taken part in a US-style primary race,
and some 2.7 million voters took part in the run-off.
One of Mr Sarkozy's top allies dismissed Mr Hollande's election result
as weak.
Francois Hollande has been lucky. He was lucky because the man tipped
to win the Socialist primary - Dominique Strauss-Kahn - disqualified
himself in a sexual escapade in a Manhattan hotel. And he was lucky
because his eventual rival - former minister Martine Aubry - is hardly
the most charismatic of politicians.
But Francois Hollande also worked hard for this victory. More
than a year ago he started planning for the leadership race. He has
criss-crossed the country building up networks of support. And he has
staked out a careful position that manages to look both left-wards
(to the party's official programme and its commitments to the public
sector) and centre-wards (with promises of fiscal responsibility to
get France through the debt crisis).
Now comes the hard part. Francois Hollande has shown that he is a
consensual figure, with a genial character that makes him hard to
dislike. But does he really have what it takes to go through months
of brutal campaigning against Nicolas Sarkozy - and then lead France
through the difficult years that surely lie ahead?
Remember: this is a man who has never once in his life held ministerial
office, even at a junior level. But then, as his supporters say,
nor had Barack Obama.
Speaking at Socialist headquarters in Paris, Mr Hollande said:
"I have heard the anger and concerns of a great number of people,
unemployment, job insecurity, high rents, healthcare which is becoming
more and more inaccessible.
"I have noticed the concerns about our common future, the failures
of globalisation, the failings of Europe, the environment."
"France must find a plan again which will give it back all of its
meaning," Mr Hollande said, adding that he would "show a different
vision of the presidency".
He would, he said, be "the candidate of respect and dialogue".
"I want to offer France's youth a better life than ours: I want to
put the magic back in the French dream," he said.
In her concession speech, Ms Aubry, who leads the Socialist Party,
said she welcomed Mr Hollande's victory and would invest all her
"strength and energy to ensure that he is the president of France
seven months from now".