Hollande Wins PS Primary In France
- October 17th, 2011
- Posted by EUEditor
Francois Hollande has won his bid to be the Socialist Party candidate against the incumbent President, Nicolas Sarkozy, in elections next year.
He came out on top in a primary poll of 2.7-million voters (16.10.11), getting 56.4% against his rival Martine Aubry with 43.6%.
It was a run-off between the two, after a closer match a week ago, and after the defeated candidates in that contest declared for Mr Hollande. (See EUAustralia Online, “France: surprise in PS primaryâ€, 11.10.11).
Mr Hollande, 57, a former secretary of his party, is a graduate of France’s elite business colleges, the grandes ecoles including ENA, and a long-term office holder in regional and national assemblies.
He has been under attack for not having held Ministerial office in a government, but came up the strongest in the field of candidates, in open opinion polls, as able to beat Nicolas Sarkozy.
The President, whose administration is trailing in popularity, with stress in the economy, has not yet declared whether he will seek a second term.