US-style primary for the French Socialist Party
On the 9th and 16th October 2011, the French citizens will have the possibility to vote for the socialist candidate they would like to see running for presidency on behalf of the Socialist Party later on next year. It is the first time that primaries have been organized within the French socialist party. These primaries are called the “citizens primaries 2011”.
One may wonder which conditions a French citizen must fulfill in order to be able to vote. First of all, one must have registered on the electoral register before the 31st December, 2010. Secondly, one must contribute to the organisational costs of the primaries (at least one euro). Finally, one must sign a document acknowledging his or her commitment to the values of the centre left political parties. Accordingly, the last condition leads to a very sensitive issue, the establishment of a very large database full of personal information on citizens who are politically left-orientated. The said database will be owned by the Socialist party and the Radical party of the left. It was thus agreed that once the official results of the primaries are published, the database is to be destroyed.
As regards to the candidates, there are currently six candidates, five of whom are from the Socialist party namely Martine Aubry, François Hollande, Arnaud Montebourg, Ségolène Royal and Manuel Valls and the other one belongs to the Radical party of the left, Jean-Michel Baylet.
Martine Aubry is currently the Socialist party leader and the mayor of Lille. She acted as a Minister and a Deputy Prime Minister in the nineties. Therefore, she has a lot of experience in the executive role. At the beginning of the campaign, she did not want to be a candidate and looked forward to support Dominique Strauss Kahn. However, on account of Dominique Strauss Kahn’s arrest, Martine Aubry has put her name forward. Martine Aubry is placing second in the polls, just behind François Hollande.
The latter used to be the Socialist party leader between 1997 and 2008 and is currently the President of the General Council[1] of Corrèze and a Member of Parliament. Both candidates have a similar idea regarding the kind of President they would like to be. They want to be close to the French people. That is the reason why they visited every village and city during the campaign. François Hollande insists on his wish to be an “ordinary President”, the same as Martine Aubry. Consequently, people criticize this similarity between them. Moreover, François Hollande is criticized because he does not have any executive experience. He is often criticized because of his lack of capacity to take difficult decisions. During the last television debate, François Hollande was criticized because he acted, in a way, as if he was already President. Nevertheless, François Hollande is the favorite in the polls. He seems to be more “credible” than Martine Aubry when it comes to foreign and economic policy and credibility.
Ségolène Royal benefits from a lot of experience within the executive role. She was, indeed, an adviser to François Mitterrand and a Minister during the nineties. She was also a Member of Parliament. She is currently the President of the Regional Council[2] of Poitou-Charente. Her main strength is that she knows how to run a Presidential campaign. Unfortunately, this is also her main weakness as she lost the Presidency election in 2007. As regard to to her strength, one may say that she benefits from an experience in each power basically the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. She is also the first woman who arrived at the second round in a Presidential election (2007). She is currently placing third in the polls.
Arnaud Montebourg, who is the youngest candidate, is also the President of the General Council, the one of Saône et Loire, a Member of Parliament and he has an influential role within the party since he is responsible for the party renewal. He is usually considered to be at the left of the socialist party. He has numerous ideas, not least a new way of doing politics in France. However, he is generally criticized because his ideas are not always realistic.
Manuel Valls is currently the mayor of Evry and a Member of Parliament. He had several positions in the Regional Council of Île de France. He is considered to be on the right-wing of the Socialist Party, which may be one of his weaknesses.
Finally, Jean-Michel Baylet is the less well-known candidate. He is currently the President of the General Council of Tarn-et-Garonne. He acted as a Minister in the nineties. He was also a Member of Parliament and a Senator. Therefore, he benefits from experience in the executive and legislative powers but he is not known by the French people. In addition, during the last television debates, he was not really convincing.
Consequently, we can note at the moment, that Martine Aubry, François Hollande and Ségolène Royal are the frontrunners with Hollande being the clear favourite to face incumbent Nicholas Sarkozy next year and finally make it to the Elysee.
Charlotte Henry is a legal translator and has a Masters degree in trilingual legal studies from the University of Nantes
Aaron Farrugia is Chairperson of Fondazzjoni IDEAT and member of the Administration of the Partit Laburista
[1]In France, there is a General Council for each department, the latter being the administrative division of France). The General Council is delegated several competences such as the so called “social help” (aide sociale). This program leads to the payment of social benefits.
[2]The regions constitute the other administrative division in France. A region is made up of several departments. The Regional Council is delegated several competences such as education and environment.
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