Posted on 05/13/2007 1:01:15 AM PDT by Cincinna
PARIS, May 12, 2007 (AFP) - Bitterly divided following the defeat of its presidential candidate Segolene Royal, France's Socialist Party (PS) bunkered down Saturday to draw up a battle plan for next month's legislative elections.
Reeling from its third consecutive presidential election defeat, the party is struggling to forge a common front ahead of the June 10 and 17 vote to elect the lower house National Assembly.
On combative form, Royal opened a meeting of the party's 300-member national council in Paris with a call for unity, vowing to remain a driving force in opposition despite her emphatic defeat by the right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy.
Greeted by powerful applause, Royal told party members she was "available" to lead the renovation of her party, and would "obviously take full part" in the legislative campaign.
Going further, she set her sights on the next presidential contest, blaming a lack of unity behind her candidacy for her defeat, and calling for the party to move fast to choose a new candidate and "mobilise fully behind him".
The PS is torn over what role the 53-year-old Royal -- who polls show remains its most popular figure but whose authority is contested by senior rivals -- should play in the party's future.
Commentators believe she may now try to conquer the party leadership, with a view to making a second presidential bid in five years time.
But she faces stiff opposition from heavyweights including Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a social-democrat who wants to "renovate" the PS, and Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister who believes its place is firmly on the left.
Royal's bold stance earned her immediate rebukes from both camps.
Strauss-Kahn ally Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, said he was "slightly alarmed" to see Royal "play leap-frog" over the legislatives to focus on the presidentials, while Fabius ally Claude Bartolone said the time was not for "self-proclamations and score-settling".
Party first secretary Francois Hollande, who is Royal's partner, also said her talk of 2012 was premature.
Hollande, who will be in charge of the coming campaign, said it should be "simple and collective", warning of the risk of electoral fatigue after the long and hard-fought presidential race.
Following six hours of talks, the PS agreed on a slogan -- "The left that acts, the left that protects" -- and a campaign centred on four major themes: employment, wages and industrial innovation; welfare protection, the ageing population, education and housing; Europe and globalisation; democratic reform.
The talks in Paris also aimed to decide on possible alliances with the far-left or centre.
The most thorny question is whether to strike an alliance with the centrist Francois Bayrou, who has broken his links with Sarkozy's right-wing camp and this week founded a new party, the Democratic Movement.
Royal's supporters are ready to consider accords with the centre, but Fabius loyalists are fiercely opposed to any "rightward shift", while Strauss-Kahn has stopped short of backing any alliance with the centrists.
There was no announcement on the subject although the PS leader in the National Assembly Jean-Marc Ayrault, a Royal ally, told Le Monde newspaper the Socialists may consider a second round deal with like-minded centrists concerning up to 15 constituencies.
Electoral accords have been reached between the PS and two fringe parties on the left while talks are underway with the Greens and the Communists.
According to a poll published Thursday, Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement is expected to easily retain an overall majority in the 577-seat National Assembly, while the PS is expected to win 158 to 200 seats.
ROYAL HURRY: "I'm your gal for 2012"
Nicolas Sarkozy is working behind the scenes to put a government together, and still has several days until becoming France's next president, but that has not stopped Segolene Royal from beginning the 2012 presidential campaign.
Today Royal said that the Socialist primary campaign in late summer and fall of 2006 was a destructive process, and that "internal attacks" were seized upon by the right in the presidential campaign. To remedy this Royal suggested a much speeded up process of designating the Socialist candidate for 2012:
"It will be necessary to reform the calendar of designation (...) It's necessary that the candidate is designated much earlier, so that he is not exhausted in quarrels and internal conflicts."
And her timetable? "Quickly...after the legislative elections, as of the next congress." Any Socialist Party congress would be held in March 2008 or in the autumn. Nothing seems to be stopping her from positioning herself to be the 2012 candidate, although to have any chance of winning, she would likely have to break away from the hard-line socialists and far leftists that have restrained the party from moving closer towards a US/UK style mainstream left wing. With the fractures between herself and her own party this time around, she is also hoping that "Ensemble, tout devient possible."
Segolene Royal does not accept the fact that she suffered a massive defeat on Sunday, and says she is ready to lead her party to victory. In the upcoming Legislative Elections, and again for the presidency in 2012.
I hope the decent humans in France have operatives who can play hardball and work to make sure the socialists remain “bitterly divided”.
What I find continually interesting is that Ms. Royal’s “partner” (Hollande, head of the PS) steps on here lines and contradicts her. He did so before the election, and even noted she may lose the election. In this article he draws back from her “organize now” message. Theirs must be an interesting relationship. It isn’t working for the sake of the PS, but that is fine by me.
A cautionary tale, perhaps, for other power hungry couples.
Smarter, more powerful men trying to install their “wife” or WINO, as the case may be, and control the government.
Not mentioning any names, of course, but the Arkansas Grifters come to mind.
Royal’s massive glamour (post makeover)for a split second, gave me to regret that she was on the left. In the end though, she exemplified France’s schizoid, disfunctional character, which I truly believe descends from their evil revolution.
"Let's have a conversation." "Let's chat."
Tougher sell in the U.S.A. The sociopathic face of socialism is not as attractive. The propagandists have to work more than 35 hours a week on this one.
thx
The growth of the center-right in France is the big news coming from France.
In the past, the non-socialist centrists (or, liberals) matter-of-factly joined with the Gaulists (or, conservatives), so as to oppose the Socialists and the far-left.
Now, we see that the Gaulists can win by combining their own strength with a portion of the far right (or, nationalist) vote and a portion of the centrist vote. As a consequence, the Socialists are under pressue to move to the center, in order to court the centrists, and have a chance at a majority. A Socialist-far left combination can no longer get enough votes to win.
I don’t think it will be simple for the Socialists to move to the center. The reason is because politics doesn’t line-up on a single line, from far-right to far-left. Successful politicians in France, as elsewhere, have to pull together disparate and sometimes conflicting factions in order to win.
To Sarkozy’s credit, he was able to able to solidify his base, appeal enough to the center, and keep defections to the right to a minimum (within the context of the French electoral system). Royal, I thought, moved too far to the left during the first round, and did not make enough of an effort to appeal to populists on the so-called right.
France seems to be moving in the opposite direction that our country is moving in. Here, the hard core left of the Democratic Party seems to be in the driver’s seat, and we appear to be headed to higher taxes, socialized medicine, and an anti-western, multi-cultural agenda. Having lost the Congress and in retreat at the state level, the center-right is splintering on the eve of the next Presidential election.
The very definition of insanity! (Continuing to do the exact same thing and expecting a different result.)
Note tagline.
His apathy over the Supreme Court's absurd "eminent domain" decision and his expansion of the size and reach of the federal government, especially by increasing entitlements to include prescription drugs, also didn't help.
If he had closed the Border, nullified the decision, and not expanded the federal government, the Republicans would have retained Congress, and he would have assured a Republican Presidency and Congress in 2008.
The Republican base is still angry!
The Border is still open!
The "eminent domain" decision still threatens the American people!
The federal government is fatter and more menacing than ever!
What ineffable twaddle!
...or perhaps I should say, "What F'ing Twaddle!"
If it is "left wing" then by definition it cannot be mainstream...
Cheers!
Segolene Royal = John Kerry in a skirt
BTTT
Opinion polls show that Republicans win when they combine economic conservatives with social conservatives, not when they turn off either. Try to get the whole pie for yourself, and you get nothing.
But I'll do just about anything to keep the decadent, self-serving, anti-American, dangerous, and depraved Democrats from seizing power!
W’s breach of faith on immigration definitely played a role in our loss of Congress. And yes, he missed another opportunity to represent the base when he failed to denounce the outrageous Kelo decision. He should have trashed it, loudly and proudly, within 48 hours.
Bitterly divided following the defeat of its presidential candidate Segolene Royal, France's Socialist Party......has a new reason to be bitterly divided. ;')
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