Royal battles for nomination
By Christine Shubert,WNS France Bureau Chief
PARIS - She may have stumbled during the latest test, but Segolene Royal still remains the favourite to be top of the class at the end of term. The frontrunner to win the nomination as Socialist candidate in the presidential election was judged by some to have been less assured than her two rivals in Tuesday night's final TV debate. "Royal masters foreign languages badly", read the headline in the free newspaper 20 Minutes. The paper described the likely Socialist presidential candidate as vague and lightweight on international affairs. Several times, it said, the more experienced Laurent Fabius and Dominique Strauss-Kahn were like professors to Royal's "average student". The differences were certainly apparent. By saying "we must talk to everyone" in the Middle East, Segolene Royal favoured a direct dialogue with Hamas.
Mr Fabius and Mr Strauss-Kahn spelled out their reservations. They had no objection to Iran developing its nuclear capability for civil purposes only, whereas Ms Royal opposed all nuclear activity by Tehran. They were either for or against Turkish entry to the EU. She repeated that the French people should decide one day in a referendum. When Socialist party members vote next week to choose their presidential candidate, Tuesday's debate will probably be forgotten. Overall, Segolene Royal is seen as having stood up reasonably well to her competitors.
posted by wnsworld @ 9:45 AM
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