Aubry named as leader of French Socialists

Martine Aubry, the brains behind France's 35-hour week, was confirmed as head of the opposition Socialist party on Tuesday after the leftist group ratified the results of a disputed leadership ballot.

The decision was a bitter blow to Segolene Royal, the Socialist standard bearer in last year's presidential election, who had accused her rival of manipulating the internal ballot of the party's 233,000 members.

Initial results said Royal lost the poll by just 42 votes, but a committee called to verify her accusations of ballot rigging announced on Tuesday that Aubry's winning margin was actually 102 votes.

The party's top council validated the result on Tuesday evening in an open session, leaving the way for Aubry to take charge of the group and try to overcome its deep divisions.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's supporters have barely concealed their glee at the Socialist woes, which are likely to distract them for months if not years, leaving the path clear for the centre-right government to push ahead with its reform programme.

Royal's supporters did not appear ready on Tuesday to rally behind Aubry, the daughter of former European Commission President Jacques Delors, and demanded a new leadership ballot.

"For there to be unity and legitimacy, we need a vote that is above all suspicion," said Vincent Peillon, a Socialist member of the European Parliament.

RISK OF SCHISM

Some Socialists have warned the party might break into two because of the row, which is based as much on personal loathing as ideological differences, but Royal herself said at the weekend she had no intention of abandoning the leftist ship.

Royal had presented herself as a force for change and promised to inject fresh blood into the party hierarchy, which has been dominated by an ageing leadership for years.

But her many critics accused her of being inconsistent, overbearing and quixotic. Many on the left of the party also feared she would drive the Socialists to the centre of the political spectrum in her bid to dethrone Sarkozy.

Aubry, best known as the author of a controversial 2000 law which cut the working week to 35 hours from 39, is an old-fashioned Socialist backed by almost all the party bigwigs. She has promised to anchor the group on the left of the political spectrum, a move which would please hardcore Socialist supporters but is no guarantee of election success.

Refounded by the late President Francois Mitterrand in 1971, the Socialist party has been led for the past 11 years by Francois Hollande, Royal's estranged former partner.

It has not won a presidential election since 1988 or a parliamentary election since 1997.