Royal Running for President of France

Socialist presidential hopeful Segolene Royal waves to supporters after she announced her candidacy for the nomination of the French Socialist Party, during a meeting in Vitrolles, near Marseille, southern France, Friday, Sept. 29, 2006. Segolene Royal, who tops polls as the Socialist choice to run for French president, formally announced her candidacy Friday. (AP Photo/Claude Paris) (Claude Paris - AP)

VITROLLES, France -- Segolene Royal, who tops polls as the Socialist choice to run for French president next spring, formally announced her candidacy Friday.

Royal, 53, a lawmaker and mother of four, said in southern France that she would seek her party's nomination.

The party will hold a vote Nov. 16 to nominate the Socialist candidate. Should that first round produce no clear winner, a second round is planned for Nov. 23.

"Here, amid party militants and the French, I answer the question with simplicity, also with graveness, conscious of the weight of my words and the importance of the act: Yes, I accept this mission to conquer for France," Royal told a party meeting.

Attacking the man likely to be the governing conservatives' choice, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, Royal said in a speech that "what we need is a real change."

Sarkozy leads in polls for the conservative nomination, and media have held up the possibility that the April first-round presidential vote will pit the law-and-order interior minister against Royal.

On Thursday, former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin _ a political stalwart for almost three decades _ said he would not seek the Socialist Party's nomination.

Jospin's withdrawal from the acrimonious party race smoothed the way for Royal's entry.

Jospin, 69, withdrew from politics after his third-place finish in the last presidential elections in 2002. But he returned to the fore in recent weeks, suggesting he was ready to represent the Socialists again.

On Thursday, however, he noted his campaign failed to build sufficient steam and the party had not rallied around him.

"Unable to unify people, I do not want to divide," Jospin told RTL radio. "Therefore, I will not be a candidate for the nomination."

Often accused by her Socialist rivals of bending party policy, Royal referred in her speech to the bedrock principles of the party and its founder, the late President Francois Mitterrand.

"Socialism is not a mummy wrapped in doctrinal bands of cloth," Royal said.

Royal also presented her vision of a France that needs Europe and the world _ but not at the expense of its own values.

"I want France to find its place in Europe and the world," she said. "France needs Europe to better contend with globalization gone awry."

Royal has been accused by rivals as being a light weight. She has served as environment and family minister among other posts but has never served in what are considered the weighty ministries like finance, interior or foreign affairs.

There is an array of potential Socialist candidates that Royal will have to face down in the internal party vote. Among them is Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former finance minister, and more than likely Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister.

Some question whether Royal will be able to rally the French left next year.

The issue is key because the left went into the 2002 election severely divided, which split the leftist vote. That helped open the door to far-right firebrand Jean-Marie Le Pen, who stunned France by eclipsing Jospin and making it into the second round of voting against incumbent Jacques Chirac.