French Socialist Party Presidential Primary, 2011
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The 2011 French Socialist Party presidential primary was the first
open primary Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...
(''primaires citoyennes'') of the
French Socialist Party The Socialist Party ( , PS) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in France, political party in France. It holds Social democracy, social democratic and Pro-Europeanism, pro-European v ...
and
Radical Party of the Left The Radical Party of the Left (, PRG) is a social-liberal political party in France. A party in the Radical tradition, since 1972 the PRG has been a close ally of the major party of the centre-left in France, the Socialist Party (, PS). Af ...
for selecting their candidate for the 2012 presidential election. The filing deadline for primary nomination papers was fixed at 13 July 2011 and six candidates competed in the first round of the vote. On election day, 9 October 2011, no candidate won 50 percent of the vote, and the two candidates with the most votes contested a
runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
on 16 October 2011.
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...
ultimately won the primary, defeating
Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), M ...
.


Background

After the Socialist Party presidential primary of 1995 and the Socialist Party presidential primary of 2006 restricted to active members of the
French Socialist Party The Socialist Party ( , PS) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing List of political parties in France, political party in France. It holds Social democracy, social democratic and Pro-Europeanism, pro-European v ...
, the principle of a primary open to all supporters of the
Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...
for the 2012 race for the presidency was approved by the members of the Socialist Party in October 2009. The left-leaning think tank Terra Nova proposed the idea of an open primary for the Socialist Party in 2008, although the idea had also been pursued in the previous election cycle by Roger-Gérard Schwartzenberg of the
Radical Party of the Left The Radical Party of the Left (, PRG) is a social-liberal political party in France. A party in the Radical tradition, since 1972 the PRG has been a close ally of the major party of the centre-left in France, the Socialist Party (, PS). Af ...
(PRG), who wrote a
letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a Letter (message), letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through ...
on 14 September 2004 for the newspaper
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
. Schwartzenberg later introduced a bill on 28 February 2006 in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
(lower chamber) which would have outlined rules for open partisan primaries in French presidential elections.


Involvement of Dominique Strauss-Kahn

At the beginning of May 2011, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at that time managing director of the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
(IMF), was the opinion polls' clear favorite to become the Socialist Party candidate for the 2012 French presidential election, as well as for winning the presidency itself. There was controversy over the so-called ''Porschegate affair'' when he was pictured stepping into a €100,000 Porsche car, giving rise to criticism of his affluent lifestyle and to accusations of " champagne socialism". Nevertheless, it seemed certain that he would return to France and bid for the presidency in 2012. However, on 14 May 2011, Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York on charges of the sexual assault and attempted rape of a hotel room attendant. He was obliged to resign his IMF post and it was accepted at the time that he could not be expected to take any part in the Socialist Party primary. Nevertheless, on 1 July 2011, there came a marked sea-change in Strauss-Kahn's fortunes when he was released on his own recognizance from house-arrest and bail at a court-hearing requested by the prosecution. This followed a letter sent by the New York District Attorney to Strauss-Kahn's defence lawyers disclosing information about the room attendant which appeared to call into question her credibility. Strauss-Kahn's release led to immediate speculation of an eventual return to politics, perhaps even participation in the primary. The Paris politician and advocate of
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
Michèle Sabban asked that the primary be suspended to discuss the possibility of Strauss-Kahn's participation. At 13 July 2011, the closing date for nominations, Strauss-Kahn had not declared his candidacy. The charges against Strauss-Kahn were dismissed on 23 August 2011. The prevailing view in the media was that he nevertheless could not make an immediate return to politics and his chances of being nominated as the 2012 Socialist candidate were effectively dead. An opinion poll conducted by CSA on 23/24 August showed that 80% of the French people (77% among supporters of the Left) did not want Strauss-Kahn to contest the Socialist candidacy, while a majority further did not want him to play any part in the forthcoming presidential election or to participate in any eventual Socialist government. On 18 September 2011, in a televised interview, Strauss-Kahn confirmed he would not be a candidate and would not play any role in the Socialist primaries.


Voting procedures


Calendar

Nominations for the candidacy were opened on 28 June 2011 and closed on 13 July 2011, with first round election to take place on 9 October 2011 and potential second round election on 16 October 2011 (respectively 8 October 2011 and 15 October 2011 for French territories in the Americas and the Eastern Pacific).


Conditions

Unlike previous Socialist Party primaries, this was the first primary to be open to the general public. In order to participate to the open primary, voters had to meet the following conditions: * be registered in the French electoral lists before 31 December 2010 (or for French persons under 18: be 18 at the time of the 2012 presidential election, or be a member of
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
(PS),
Radical Party of the Left The Radical Party of the Left (, PRG) is a social-liberal political party in France. A party in the Radical tradition, since 1972 the PRG has been a close ally of the major party of the centre-left in France, the Socialist Party (, PS). Af ...
(PRG), Young Socialist Movement (MJS), or Young Radicals of the Left (JRG); foreigners will be able to vote if they are members of PS, PRG, MJS, or JRG); * pay a contribution of minimum €1; * sign a charter pledging to the values of the Left: "freedom, equality, fraternity, secularism, justice, solidarity and progress".


Candidates

The following candidates participated in the open primary:


Campaign


First round

The six candidates participated in three televised debates on 15 September, 28 September and 5 October 2011. In the first round election day, around 2,700,000 voters cast their ballots: Hollande won 39 percent of the vote, followed by Aubry with 30 percent and Montebourg at 17 percent. Former presidential candidate Royal came in fourth place with 7 percent of the vote.


Second round

On 9 October 2011, after the first results of the first round, Manuel Valls called his voters to cast their ballots in favor of François Hollande; on 10 and 12 October 2011, Jean-Michel Baylet and Ségolène Royal respectively announced they would support François Hollande. On 14 October 2011, Arnaud Montebourg did not instruct his voters how to vote, although he explained he would personally cast his ballot for Hollande. François Hollande and Martine Aubry contested a runoff election on 16 October 2011, after a televised debate held on 12 October 2011. Almost 2,900,000 voters participated to the second round: François Hollande won the primary with around 57 percent of the vote, becoming the official candidate of the Socialist Party and its allies for the 2012 presidential election.


Results

, - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left" , Candidates ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left" , Parties ! colspan="2" , 1st round ! colspan="2" , 2nd round , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ! width="60" , Votes ! width="30" , % ! width="60" , Votes ! width="30" , % , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
, PS , 1,038,207 , 39.17% , 1,607,268 , 56.57% , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), M ...
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
, PS , 806,189 , 30.42% , 1,233,899 , 43.43% , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Arnaud Montebourg , style="text-align:left;" ,
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
, PS , 455,609 , 17.19% , colspan="2" rowspan="4" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
, PS , 184,096 , 6.95% , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" ,
Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...
, style="text-align:left;" ,
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
, PS , 149,103 , 5.63% , - , style="background-color:" , , style="text-align:left;" , Jean-Michel Baylet , style="text-align:left;" ,
Radical Party of the Left The Radical Party of the Left (, PRG) is a social-liberal political party in France. A party in the Radical tradition, since 1972 the PRG has been a close ally of the major party of the centre-left in France, the Socialist Party (, PS). Af ...
, PRG , 17,055 , 0.64% , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - style="font-weight:bold;" , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Total , 2,650,259 , 100% , 2,860,157 , 100% , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Valid votes , , , , % , , , , % , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Spoilt and null votes , , , , % , , , , % , - style="font-weight:bold;" , colspan="4" style="text-align:left" , Total , 2,661,284 , 100% , 2,879,147 , 100% , - , colspan="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , , - , colspan="8" style="text-align:left" , Table of results ordered by number of votes received in first round, complete results o
resultats.lesprimairescitoyennes.fr
.


See also

*
2012 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round Two-round system, run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territ ...


References


External links

*
Official website

Profiles of the principal candidates (BBC News)
{{French Socialist Party
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
2012 French presidential election History of the Socialist Party (France) Primary elections in France