Ségolène Royal says no to 2012

FORMER presidential candidate Ségolène Royal has said she will not run against Martine Aubry or Dominique Strauss-Kahn if they decide to seek nomination for the 2012 presidential campaign.

In an interview with BFM Radio yesterday, the Socialist president of the Poitou-Charentes region said: "I will not be a candidate against any of the two major leaders of the Socialist Party.

"If there are conflicts [within the party] we cannot win."

However she did not fully rule out a presidential campaign, saying that if the PS decided to rally round her "I will do my best".
Royal added that if Aubry decided to run, she would "offer her my support".

The PS nominated Royal to challenge the UMP party at the 2007 presidential elections, but she lost to Nicolas Sarkozy, who picked up 53% of the votes in the second round.

Aubry, who is currently the PS party leader, and International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn are widely tipped to challenge Sarkozy in 2012.

The Socialists are holding a primary election next year where voters can choose which candidate will represent the party at the 2012 poll.

Aubry said in an interview with Métro that she believed there would be "between three and five candidates" in the primaries.

Photo: Guillaumepaumier