FRANCE:French presidential contender Ségolène Royal drew a record audience for a TV debate on Monday night, but commentators yesterday were unsure as to whether she had done enough to get her struggling campaign back on track.
Ms Royal drew 8.9 million viewers, 300,000 more than centre-right front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy, giving fresh hope to supporters dismayed by her poll ratings, which have fallen to their lowest ebb since her Socialist primary triumph in November.
Bidding to become the first woman to lead France, Ms Royal avoided the gaffes that had plagued earlier campaigning and portrayed herself as the only candidate capable of bringing real change to France. Taking questions from the audience, she complained: "No man with my professional background would have had his competence and legitimacy permanently called into question. It's much harder for a woman." Latest polls, taken before the debate, show Ms Royal trailing Mr Sarkozy by eight to 10 points in a May 6th second-round run-off.
"The principal danger for Ségolène Royal today is François Bayrou," said François Miquet-Marty from pollster LH2.
Mr Bayrou, who appears to be garnering support from socialists disenchanted with Ms Royal, may not be just a threat to her. One poll shows that if he ends in the top two following the first round of the vote on April 22nd he would beat either her or Mr Sarkozy in the May 6th run-off.
About one-fifth of left-wing voters who supported defeated socialist Lionel Jospin in the 2002 presidential race say they want to vote for Mr Bayrou this time, Mr Miquet-Marty said.
The Est Républicain regional newspaper said in an editorial yesterday that Ms Royal appeared to have performed well when answering questions from a 100-strong audience picked by a polling organisation to be representative of the French people.
"But was her performance enough to relaunch her [ electoral] machine?" it asked. "For supporters she was convincing, precise, combative, persuasive. For rivals, there was no miracle. The cracks in the socialist campaign have not been repaired." - (Reuters)