François Hollande and Martine Aubry have emerged as the finalists in the first round of voting in the French Socialist Party primaries held to choose a candidate in next year's presidential elections. As the showdown between the two approaches in a final poll next weekend, the major upset for both was the unexpectedly high score reached by the party's radical candidate Arnaud Montebourg. Both candidates must reach out to his supporters, and the testing task promises some lively debate in the coming days. Stéphane Alliès and Lénaïg Bredoux report.
Paris police deny making illegal enquiries into private life of Valerie Trierweiler, Socialist Party presidential hopeful François Hollande's companion.
French Socialist Party leaders were informed about an alleged sexual assault by Dominique Strauss-Kahn upon 22 year-old journalist Tristane Banon in 2002 but failed to take action, her mother (photo) has told Mediapart. Socialist Party heavyweight Strauss-Kahn was expected to run as the party's candidate in next year's French presidential elections, which opinion polls widely forecast he would win until his arrest May 14th in New York on charges of sexually assaulting a hotel chambermaid.
Opinion polls have unanimously elected International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (pictured) as France's next president. His huge popularity scores in the surveys show he would beat any fellow Socialist Party rival to become its candidate, and crush incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the vote itself. Or could it all be, as some experts warn, just a load of media hype?
Ségolène Royal has seen her political fortunes dive since her defeat to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential elections. Ostracised by many leading Socialists, she retreated to her regional fiefdom, her future chances of a second crack at the pinnacle of power apparently destroyed. But Ségo, as she's popularly called, is not one to go quietly and now she has announced she will run in elections to choose the next Socialist Party presidential candidate. Stéphane Alliès charts a remarkable and swift political recovery.
