Woman wins nomination for French president

PARIS – Segolene Royal got a running start Thursday to her campaign to become France’s first female president, decisively beating two rivals to wrap up the nomination for the main opposition Socialist Party in a single round of voting.

The win, which party officials announced with about 40 percent of votes counted, spared Royal a second round against her two rivals from the party’s old guard – former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

It also meant she can head into the April vote claiming the oft-divided opposition party is fully behind her.

“The results show rather clearly the fact that there will only be one round, and we can say that Segolene Royal is already the candidate for the Socialist Party,” said Stephane Le Foll, chief of staff to the party’s general secretary.

By the final tally, Royal had collected 60.62 percent of votes, while Strauss-Kahn won 20.83 percent and Fabius gained 18.54 percent, Le Foll said. About 82 percent of the 219,000 party members eligible to vote cast ballots.

Strauss-Kahn and Fabius conceded defeat, their spokesmen said.

“Tomorrow, I’ll have the job of bringing them all together – including those who didn’t vote for me,” Royal said in the victory speech. “I am counting on them.”

Royal, 53, has sought to tap into broader voter disillusionment with politics after two terms under conservative President Jacques Chirac marred by corruption scandals and stagnation.

The Socialists, who dominated the French political scene a generation ago, have been searching for direction since former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin’s embarrassing third-place finish in the last presidential vote, in 2002.

The party also has been licking its wounds since the national referendum on the European Union Constitution last year, which caused a massive rift in the party – and French voters overall rejected it.