2007 French presidential elections: Ségolène Royal calls for gentle reforms

April 15, 2007 In a radio address today on Radio J, Ségolène Royal, presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of France, outlined her campaign platform of fairness, order and inclusiveness.

Royal became the party's candidate for the 2007 presidential election on November 16, 2006, when she defeated Laurent Fabius and Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the French Socialist Party primary. She won in 101 of 104 of the Socialist Party's fédérations, losing only Haute-Corse, Mayotte and Seine-Maritime.

"Today there is a confrontation between two programmes, two ways of doing politics, two visions of the country and I want the French people to have that choice in the second round" of elections on May 6, Royal told Radio J. "France needs to be reformed without violence, without brutality."

Potentially the first female, Royal dismissed attacks on her record and credibility as sexist and called the policies of right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, of the Union for a Popular Movement, harsh and divisive.

Royal also addressed calls from within her own camp to form an alliance with centrist candidate, François Bayrou of the Union for French Democracy, who has been running near even with her in polls. "Bayrou is a respectable personality, but he has no program and no team. Millions of French would feel cheated if the second round deprived them of a real choice."

France will cast votes in the first round on Sunday, April 22, 2007. If no candidate wins 50% or more of the vote, a second round between the two leading candidates will take place on Sunday, May 6, 2007. This will be the ninth presidential election of the.