FRANCE:Three days of agitation over a rapid alliance between socialist and centrist candidates against France's right-wing presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy ended yesterday when the main protagonist excluded an agreement before the first round of the election next Sunday.
François Bayrou, the centrist candidate who has made "the end of the right-left divide" the main theme of his campaign, told France Inter radio station: "There is no possibility of accord imaginable in a presidential election before the vote." Former socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin and former education minister Claude Allègre yesterday joined the chorus of socialists rejecting an alliance advocated by two prominent socialists over the weekend.
But neither the centrist nor socialist camp has completely ruled out an alliance between the first round on April 22nd and the run-off on May 6th.
Six days before the election, opinion polls predicted an average first-round score of 28.3 per cent for Mr Sarkozy, 24.4 per cent for socialist candidate Ségolène Royal, 18.4 per cent for Mr Bayrou and 13.5 per cent for the extreme right-wing candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen.
If Mr Bayrou beat Ms Royal in the first round, he would benefit from the TSS "Tout Sauf Sarkozy" (anything but Sarkozy) front that is building all the way from the extreme left to the centre-right.
If, as polls seem to indicate, Ms Royal faces Mr Sarkozy in the run-off, she is far less certain of mobilising the centrist vote, and might need Mr Bayrou's support. In exchange, he could demand substantial participation in government, a degree of proportional representation in the National Assembly and a dose of economic liberalism.
The debate over an alliance was launched by an article in Le Monde on April 14th by former socialist prime minister Michel Rocard.
"If Nicolas Sarkozy is elected in a few weeks, we will have no excuse," Mr Rocard said. "The UMP will win the legislative elections that follow; and for five years, France will suffer."
This could be avoided if the socialists "united with the forces that are closest to us", Mr Rocard continued. "On essential issues, nothing any longer separates . . . socialists and centrists."
On Sunday, former health minister Bernard Kouchner fuelled what had become the most pressing question in the campaign by adding his voice to Mr Rocard's.
But Ms Royal and her entourage reacted with hostility to the proposals. Mr Bayrou says a vote for him is more "useful" than a vote for Ms Royal, because polls show he has a far better chance of beating Mr Sarkozy in the run-off.
Among Royalistes, talk of an alliance sparked fears that voters would assume there was no difference between the two, and vote for Mr Bayrou in the first round.
François Hollande, the head of the socialist party and Ms Royal's companion, said there was "no conceivable alliance between the left and a part of the right".
Ms Royal implied that she was yet again being sabotaged by members of her own camp. In a speech on Sunday night, she said having "friends like that" was a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, the strange flirtation between Mr Sarkozy and Mr Le Pen continues. "It's not Le Pen who interests me, it's his electorate," Mr Sarkozy said yesterday.
At a rally last night Mr Le Pen, who has recently complimented Mr Sarkozy, lashed out at the right-wing candidate, calling him an "emblem" of "the political scum" who have "pillaged and ruined the French people . . . No, Mr Sarkozy, the world does not revolve around your little personage," Mr Le Pen said.
