The Presidential elections are next year. And for the first time in France, we are seeing primary elections, American-style. The Socialist party got a mauling last time with its candidate, the beautiful but shallow Segolene Royal. So this time, it has opened up its selection process to everybody.
We have just had the first round and the biggest casualty was Mme Royal herself. Her vote was reduced to just 7% and she was reduced to tears.
To make matters worse for Royal, the father of her children, Francois Hollande topped the poll in the first round and is now the clear favorite to win. Hollande left Royal shortly before her last presidential defeat for a much younger journalist.
Hollande is an uncharismatic figure who has modelled himself on former president Francois Mitterand. Satirical TV programs make fun of repeating clios of the two men saying identical words, so closely is Hollande copying his model.
His opponent in the run off will be Martine Aubry, the daughter of ex-EU President, Jacques Delors. Aubry is a much more of a conviction politician from the left of the party. However, she is from a privileged background and has problems making contact with ordinary people. Above all, she carries the blame for introducing the 35 hour working week. At the time, this was warmly welcomed but now many people see that it was exactly the wrong thing to do for the then weakening French economy.
