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An unimpeachable touch...
| A brilliant personalised campaign |
ENERGETIC CAMPAIGN: French presidential candidate Segolene Royal greets supporters on Sunday in Melle, central France, after voting in the second and final round of the election.
PARIS: Segolene Royal came close to the threshold of being France's first woman president thanks to a brilliantly personalised campaign which transformed her for the Left-voting public into a symbol of hope and renewal.
The 53-year-old former Environment Minister emerged from nowhere a year ago to challenge the Socialist Party (PS) barons, and won the presidential nomination in November after it became clear that she alone had the charisma to beat the popular right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy.
Fired by a fierce sense of self-belief, she then shrugged off a series of much-reported gaffes — when it appeared her candidacy might turn into a disastrous flop — and her 25.87 per cent first round vote was the best by a left-winger in 20 years.
Her popular touch is unimpeachable. For many she is the first Socialist leader to break with an ideological, male-dominated establishment and speak directly to ordinary people about their concerns. But for critics, Ms. Royal is a manipulator who confuses politics with public relations, artfully numbing the voters with bromides about a new society. Others say she is an authoritarian, and there are question marks over her manifesto. Via ``participative debates'' and her ``Desires for the Future'' website, she added novelty to her campaign.
— Agencies
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