The News
Friday 29 of March 2024

Hamon Wins French Socialists' Presidential Primary


A woman casts her ballot at the second round of French left's presidential primaries ahead of the 2017 presidential election, in Marseille, southern France,photo: AP/Claude Paris
A woman casts her ballot at the second round of French left's presidential primaries ahead of the 2017 presidential election, in Marseille, southern France,photo: AP/Claude Paris
The count from 60 percent of the voting stations showed Hamon winning with 58 percent of Sunday's vote

PARIS — A partial vote count shows hard-left candidate Benoît Hamon winning the presidential nomination for France’s ruling Socialist Party, comfortably beating ex-Prime Minister Manuel Valls in a primary runoff vote.

The count from 60 percent of the voting stations showed Hamon winning with 58 percent of Sunday’s vote, with around 41 percent for Valls.

Hamon’s win sends the divided Socialists, weakened by the chronic unpopularity of outgoing President François Hollande, into a tough presidential battle behind a candidate with limited government experience and hard-left politics that could alienate some center-left Socialist voters.

JOHN LEICESTER