Hollande wins hearts of the left
Source: Agencies |
October 18, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRANCOIS Hollande will try to unseat France's conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy and return a Socialist to the Elysee Palace for the first time in 17 years in an election just over six months from now.
Hollande, a moderate who says France must balance its books without sacrificing the welfare state or shrinking the number of state-employed school teachers, won a US-style primary ballot on Sunday to designate the Socialist party's presidential challenger.
He scored victory over his more old-school rival Martine Aubry, a former labor minister, with more than 56 percent of the vote.
Although he has never held a national government post and is little known outside France, the notoriously witty Hollande, 57, says he expects and is ready for a "fierce battle" against the right and far-right in the months ahead.
"The right has nothing to lose," said the man who could be the first Socialist to win a presidential contest since the late Francois Mitterrand was re-elected in 1988.
Sarkozy has yet to declare but is widely expected to run for re-election after five years in office, where he has had to deal with the worst global economic downturn since World War II and has alienated many voters by cutting tax for the wealthy in tough times.
Hollande, tipped by pollsters to beat Sarkozy comfortably, rides to work on a scooter and sells himself as "Mr Normal" who will put a stop to the frenetic showbiz style that won Sarkozy the nickname of the "bling-bling" president.
Hollande said: "I measure the scale of the task awaiting me. It is vast. It is grave. I must rise to meet the aspirations of a French people who are sick and tired of the policies of Nicolas Sarkozy."
For months, the opinion polls have suggested French voters are ready to put the left back in the Elysee Palace.
The left's favorite was former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but sex scandals have ruled him out.
Hollande, a moderate who says France must balance its books without sacrificing the welfare state or shrinking the number of state-employed school teachers, won a US-style primary ballot on Sunday to designate the Socialist party's presidential challenger.
He scored victory over his more old-school rival Martine Aubry, a former labor minister, with more than 56 percent of the vote.
Although he has never held a national government post and is little known outside France, the notoriously witty Hollande, 57, says he expects and is ready for a "fierce battle" against the right and far-right in the months ahead.
"The right has nothing to lose," said the man who could be the first Socialist to win a presidential contest since the late Francois Mitterrand was re-elected in 1988.
Sarkozy has yet to declare but is widely expected to run for re-election after five years in office, where he has had to deal with the worst global economic downturn since World War II and has alienated many voters by cutting tax for the wealthy in tough times.
Hollande, tipped by pollsters to beat Sarkozy comfortably, rides to work on a scooter and sells himself as "Mr Normal" who will put a stop to the frenetic showbiz style that won Sarkozy the nickname of the "bling-bling" president.
Hollande said: "I measure the scale of the task awaiting me. It is vast. It is grave. I must rise to meet the aspirations of a French people who are sick and tired of the policies of Nicolas Sarkozy."
For months, the opinion polls have suggested French voters are ready to put the left back in the Elysee Palace.
The left's favorite was former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but sex scandals have ruled him out.
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