Paris - France's main right-wing party, the Rally for the Republic (RPR), yesterday named its former president, Mr Philippe Seguin (57), as candidate in the hotly contested race for the mayorship of Paris.
The other two main contenders, the former prime minister, Mr Edouard Balladur, and the former tourism minister, Ms Francoise de Panafieu, had bowed out of the race early amid recriminations that the party's secretive selection procedure was biased in Mr Seguin's favour. A fourth candidate, the incumbent Paris mayor, Mr Jean Tiberi, who has been ostracised by the RPR because of recurrent corruption allegations, has said he will run on a rival rightwing ticket.