FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE strengthened his position as frontrunner for the French Socialist Party’s presidential nomination yesterday, holding his lead over rivals after a second set-piece debate.
A socialist primary to choose its candidate for the 2012 election takes place on October 9th, with opinion polls giving Mr Hollande a strong lead over his closest rivals, former party leader Martine Aubry and his ex-partner Ségolène Royal.
In the second televised debate between the six candidates, Mr Hollande played the role of party unifier, apparently already looking to the alliances he would have to forge with rivals if selected to stand against President Nicolas Sarkozy.
A recent Ifop poll gave Mr Hollande 60 per cent support, well ahead of Ms Aubry on 35 per cent, but the novelty of the primary system, being used by the socialists for the first time, makes all six candidates’ camps wary of the polls.
Any French voter can take part in the primary provided they pay €1 and sign a charter of left-wing values. If no candidate has a majority on October 9th, the top two will go through to a play-off a week later.
Mr Hollande focused on jobs, one of the themes of his campaign, saying he would propose a “generational contract” to help youths and older people – the two categories hit hardest by unemployment – regain access to the labour market.
All candidates were highly critical of the banks. Ms Aubry said they must be “brought to heel” and made to work for the economy. She said she would “tax the financial system”, without elaborating. Ms Royal and Arnaud Montebourg, another contender, pledged they would “put banks under the guardianship” of the state.
Two of the chief beneficiaries of the TV debates have been Mr Montebourg and Manuel Valls, the youngest and least known of the socialist candidates and representatives of the party’s ideological poles.
“I’m worried that this is a race to see who can make the most interventionist proposal of all,” said Mr Valls, considered to be on the party’s right wing, after Ms Royal had proposed banning what she called “stock market layoffs”, or staff reductions by companies that made a profit in the preceding fiscal year.
