Ex-PM Valls fights outsider for French presidential nod

PARIS, France – The final fight for the French Socialist presidential nomination got under way Monday, January 23, with ex-prime minister Manuel Valls lashing out at his leftist rival over a universal income plan he said would “ruin” the country.

Former education minister Benoit Hamon will take on Valls in a run-off vote next Sunday, January 29, after scoring a surprise win in the first round of a primary seen as a battle for the party’s soul.

Dismissed as a lightweight when the campaign began in December, Hamon – who wants to tax robots and introduce a universal basic income – surged from behind with a raft of innovative ideas.

However the 49-year-old Hamon beat 6 Socialist rivals to win the first round with 35.9% of the vote, with Valls second on 31.2%, with ballots from almost all polling stations counted.

Valls, PM under outgoing President Francois Hollande until resigning in December, on Sunday, January 22, warned that picking a diehard leftist like Hamon would mean “certain defeat” in an election shaping up as a contest between the right, far-right and centre.

He mounted a fresh assault on his rival on Monday, telling TF1 television that Hamon’s universal income plan would be “the ruin of our budget” and accusing him of trying to deceive voters.

The primary has exposed the deep divisions within the Socialists between what Valls once called “two irreconcilable lefts” – a hard-left faction represented by Hamon – and his own center-left, pro-business camp.

Liberation daily on Monday called it a contest between “a left that takes charge and a left that dreams.”

‘Credible left’

Whoever wins the nomination faces long odds.

Polls show the presidential race being led by conservative ex-premier Francois Fillon, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old centrist former economy minister. 

Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who refused to take part in the primary, threatens to further split the leftwing vote.

With Europe apparently lurching towards the right, Le Pen and Fillon are expected to be the two finalists. But the photogenic Macron is nipping at their heels.

A senior aide to Macron said he was hoping to face Hamon rather than Valls, while Melenchon said the poor first-round result for the former PM would see him “hemorrhage” voters to Macron.

Over 1.6 million people took part in the Socialist primary vote, the head of the organizing committee, Christophe Borgel, told Agence France-Presse – less than half the 4 million who voted in the first round of autumn’s rightwing primary.

Maverick former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg was eliminated with 17% and immediately threw his support behind Hamon. The 4 other candidates, who took less than 7% each, also leave the race.

A defiant Valls, 54, told his supporters the Socialist primary runoff would be “a clear choice between unachievable promises and a credible left”.

But some Socialist supporters said Hamon was a breath of fresh air after 5 years of pragmatic rule by Hollande and Valls that failed to revive the economy.

Le Pen looms large

He performed strongly in three TV debates crammed into a short campaign, attracting attention with a proposal for a “universal living income” to be phased in over five years, rising from 600 euros to 750 euros ($640 to $800) a month.

He also campaigned heavily on the environment, called for a tax on robots that replace workers, and urged the legalization of marijuana.

Spanish-born Valls appears to have been punished for his association with Hollande and his use of decrees as premier to push through unpopular labour reforms.

Some Socialist heavyweights have hinted they could abandon their party’s nominee and back Macron instead if he looks to have a better chance of reaching the second round of the presidential election against Le Pen. – Rappler.com