FRANCE:Ségolène Royal, buoyed by an assured television performance that revived prospects for her presidential bid, received a setback yesterday when a former aide quit her Socialist party, condemning her campaign as weak.
Eric Besson, former national secretary on the economy in the Socialist party, made his gesture just as a survey showed Ms Royal fighting back against her main rival Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right frontrunner.
Mr Besson resigned from his post last week in a row over the financing of Ms Royal's policy plans. But he said yesterday he would also leave the Socialist party. "For the past three months, I have been seeing that the campaign is badly oriented, badly organised and going badly," he told Europe 1 radio.
Ms Royal's team responded to widespread criticism of spending plans with a detailed breakdown of the €35 billion project. Over €10 billion will be spent on research and universities and €4.5 billion on job measures.
"Every euro spent has to serve a purpose," said Mr Besson's successor, Michel Sapin. Ms Royal declined to comment on Mr Besson's departure, but his comments highlighted the tensions in her campaign team, set for a major shake-up this week.
Party leader Francois Hollande said he regretted Mr Besson's move, which he said was largely due to "personal decisions". "But I want to tell him that he will always have his place here in the Socialist movement. For the rest, this friendly incident is closed and we must focus on the essential."
Mr Besson said he wanted to leave the party after he suffered personal attacks which were "not just unworthy of political life but particularly unworthy of a political party one belongs to oneself".