In two days time, i.e. 28th of June, candidates wishing to participate in the Primary Election of the Socialist Party, must present their file. The closing date is the 13th of July 2011.
The first round of the Primaries will take place on the 9th of October and then the two leading candidates will face each other in a run-off on the 16th of October. The winner will be the sponsored Socialist Candidate in the Presidential Election in May 2012.
The three months from now until the 16th of October will be like a 100 days war among the candidates !!!
The fact that DSK, arguably the best Socialist bet to win Socalist Nomination for the Presidency, cannot now stand because of his ongoing legal problems in the USA, has opened the door for numerous other candidates.
As of today, it is certain that three heavyweight candidates have the intention to put their names forward. They are the following:
- Segolene ROYAL, who was the official Socialist candidate in 2007, but she lost in the second round run-off against Nicolas SARKOZY who became the President. This was in spite of the help she got from François Hollande, the then Secretary of the Socialist Party.
- Martine AUBRY, who is at present the Secretary of the Socialist Party. She has a long practical experience of French politics, and it was she who reduced the working week to 35 hours when Jacques CHIRAC was President and Lionel JOSPIN was Prime Minister !!! She was extremely disappointed when her father, Jacques DELORS, a well respected E U politician, declined to be a candidate in the 1995 Presidential Election against Jacques CHIRAC !!!
- François HOLLANDE, who was the Secretary of the Socialist Party, until Martine AUBRY was voted into the post. He and Segolene never married but they had four children together. (There are not many children in this world who have both their natural parents as potential candidates in the same Presidential Election !!!).
In addition to the three major candidates above, there are at least ten other people who have indicated that they may run as candidates !!! How many will ultimatetly present their files remains to be seen. However, the three following candidates may really be present;
- Manuel VALLS
- Arnaud MONTEBOURG
- Pierre MOSCOVICI
The coming weeks promise to be more than just lively !!! Other parties will also start to organise themselves and join the political debates !!!
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