France's Socialist Party named its new chief on Tuesday, a one-time political opponent of President Francois Hollande who will have to overhaul a ruling party reeling from local election losses in time for European parliament elections in May, reports Reuters.
Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, 63, was elected by the party's national congress to replace Harlem Desir, weeks after local polls in which the Socialists lost dozens of towns to the right and far-right opposition.
Cambadelis faces the task of quieting dissent from the party's far left and avoiding further humiliation in European parliament elections on May 25.
He takes over a party in crisis, split between a core that supports Hollande's shift towards supply-side economic policies and far-left factions which strongly oppose it, with little time to enact his mandate of modernisation.
"It should be up to the party's supporters to decide on its future," said a group of left-wing Socialists who previously signed a petition opposing Hollande's reform plans.
Infighting could further damage the party ahead of the May election, where Marine Le Pen's anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front party is expected to do well, with Hollande scoring low in popularity polls after failing to bring down high unemployment.
One survey by pollster Ifop this week showed the National Front coming first in the European election with 24 percent of the vote, ahead of the centre-right opposition UMP with 23 percent and the Socialist Party third with 21 percent.
Read more of this report from Reuters.