Presidential primary
October 10, 2011
Former Socialist leader Francois Hollande was ahead in France's first open US-style primary election, but the left-wing opposition failed to hand the 57-year-old majority support. A run-off vote is now likely in the race to see who will face President Nicolas Sarkozy in elections next year.
According to preliminary results, Hollande was in front with 39 percent of the vote, ahead of one-time labor minister Martine Aubry, who finished with 31 percent support.
If the results are confirmed, the pair will face each other in a run-off vote on October 16. Hollande had been seen as the favorite among six frontrunners vying for the chance to challenge Sarkozy.
The election is open not only to card-carrying Socialists, as is normally the case, but also any voter who avows support for left-wing ideals and who pays at least one euro to cast the ballot.
Good prognosis for Socialists
Opinion polls suggest that the winner could defeat Sarkozy, who is struggling for support after five years in office presiding over a sputtering economy, high unemployment and a series of scandals involving close aides.
According to opinion polls of likely voters, either Hollande or Aubry would beat Sarkozy in next year's presidential vote.
Others contesting Sunday's primary are: Segolene Royal, 58, the Socialists' defeated candidate in 2007 and Hollande's former life partner; Manuel Valls, 49, a free-market pragmatist from the Socialists' right; and Arnaud Montebourg, 48, who has campaigned on a protectionist ticket.
Jean-Michel Baylet, 64, and the head of the small, centrist Radical Party of the Left, is the only non-Socialist in the race.
Author: Darren Mara, Gabriel Borrud (AFP, AP)
Editor: David Levitz