Royal, the Socialist, is Tipped as France's First Female President

From the new World Media Watch up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


5//The Independent, UK Published: 21 December 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article334456.ece



ROYAL, THE SOCIALIST, IS TIPPED AS FRANCE’S FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT

By John Lichfield in Paris



The former cabinet minister Ségolène Royal has begun to outdistance all other potential candidates for the centre-left in the next French presidential election.

Mme Royal, 52, although dismissed by many as a lightweight, is now a strong contender to become the first woman presidential candidate for a leading French political party.

A series of recent polls has placed her far ahead of other potential centre-left candidates in 2007, including her partner, François Hollande, the leader of the Socialist party.

(SNIP)


Despite much speculation, the mood within the Hollande-Royal household remains unclear. The couple have lived together for 20 years. They have four children but have never married, by her choice.

M. Hollande has said that he will support his "wife" willingly if she emerges as the strongest candidate. Friends hint that he is astonished, and a little miffed, by his partner's new popularity. Enemies within the party insist that Mme Royal's rise has been carefully choreographed by the couple to block other candidates.

She is certainly a lot more attractive than her husband (and he knows it).

I love the "wife" though. They have 4 children and an UK newspaper like the independant cant say wife w/o "": talk about being conventional.

If anything, I'd like her to win because this would end this crap about you have to be married to a good couple and good parents: this is pure BS.

I.e. you act married long enough, they give you the legal status irregardless of paperwork & formalities.

http://www.unmarried.org/common.html

Probably no more than a third of the US - though once a common-law marriage is recognised in one state, the others recognise it too.

In England, common-law marriage ended in 1753. http://www.oneplusone.org.uk/marriedornot/PDF/CommonLawMarriage.pdf

...early for the headline shock value.

I'm sick of our Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum parties.