THE LEADERS of France’s Socialist Party have called for unity after a meeting in Paris to discuss the damaging fallout from Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s arrest in New York.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was the favourite to win the socialist nomination for the 2012 presidential election, and his arrest just over a month before the primary season begins has left the party in disarray.
Leader Martine Aubry urged members to pull together and focus on wresting control of the Élysée Palace from the right.
“Unity, responsibility, combativeness, these are the three words which came up the most this morning,” Ms Aubry said after the meeting of the party leadership in Paris yesterday.
“There was emotion, of course, and the shock we all feel, but it is our responsibility to be up to the task,” she said. “I say to the French people: we will be ready in 2012.”
Nominations for the socialist primary will open next month and close in mid-July, marking the start of a three-month campaign that will culminate in two rounds of voting in October.
Ms Aubry said the party would stick to that timetable, but refused to be drawn on whether she intended to stand. She and Mr Strauss-Kahn had agreed that they would not stand against one another and it had become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Ms Aubry was likely to step aside for the IMF chief, who polls showed was best placed to defeat Mr Sarkozy.
With Mr Strauss-Kahn out of the picture, Ms Aubry and former leader François Hollande are the front-runners for the nomination.
Ms Aubry, who was minister for labour in the last left-wing government, has cast herself as a unifying figure in a fractious party and her deal with Mr Strauss-Kahn could leave her well placed to attract support from his allies.
A daughter of former European Commission president Jacques Delors, her resistance to pressure from her own supporters to declare for the nomination has caused some to question her desire for the presidency, however.
Mr Hollande has already declared his intention to run and his popularity ratings have been rising recently.
Portraying himself as “a normal president” with a low-key presence and a simple lifestyle – in contrast to Mr Sarkozy and Mr Strauss-Kahn – he has undergone a makeover in the past year by losing weight, wearing designer glasses and cultivating a more serious persona.
Although Mr Strauss-Kahn’s absence could nominally help Mr Hollande – both men draw heavy support from the party’s social democratic camp – part of his appeal lay in his opposition to his sparring partner, the IMF chief. He is also weakened by his lack of experience in cabinet.
A poll in yesterday’s Le Parisien – the first survey since Mr Strauss-Kahn’s arrest – found Mr Hollande could win 49 per cent backing in the primary and Ms Aubry 23 per cent.
To win the nomination, Mr Hollande would also have to beat his former partner Ségolène Royal, who lost to Mr Sarkozy in 2007 but plans to stand again.
More candidates are expected to emerge, with two influential figures – former prime minister Laurent Fabius and Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë – believed to be assessing their chances.
After the party meeting yesterday, Mr Fabius urged the party to be dignified and stand together. “It’s a terrible situation in human terms and very difficult on the political front,” he said.