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That France's Socialist Party (PS) has long been divided to the point of dysfunctionality is not exactly a secret. Yet no one thought the flummoxed party was ready to prove itself the Florida of European democracy. Yet that's exactly what happened Saturday, when polling for PS leadership designated a winner with a mere 42-vote lead - immediately provoking accusations of cheating, and calls for a new election. (See video from TIME's visit to the convention for the French Socialist Party...
...Nearly 12 hours after the 137,000 PS members began voting in the run-off round for the party's top job, officials announced Lille mayor Martine Aubry had beaten last year's defeated presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal, by a tiny 42-vote margin...
...more remarkable following early returns that showed Royal firmly ahead. Though that initial lead mirrored Royal's dominant position after Thursday's first round, it was a surprise given the subsequent regrouping of factional forces that clearly favored Aubry in the run-off. Little wonder, then, that PS heavyweights backing Royal reacted with considerable swagger to her quick start in the final. Not only would their candidate win the leadership job, Royal supporters promised in the early hours of Saturday; she also looked set to triumph in near landslide proportions...
...impossible for results to be declared tonight," responded royaliste Manuel Valls, mayor of the Paris suburb Evry after the official count was published. Indeed, referring to the reversal in early voting trends - and echoing the routine accusations of "irregularities" that arise during any internal PS polling - Valls repeatedly spoke of "cheating" before making the comment that has many observers now calling the Socialists' central Paris headquarters "la Floride-sur-Seine." "We won't allow victory to be stolen," Valls pledged...
...rivals' individual histories within the party have their share of drama. The daughter of former European Commission President Jacques Delors, Aubry, 58, was named to successive government posts after establishing herself as a major mover in the PS and among Socialist legislators. In 2000 she became the target of conservative ire when her law reducing France's workweek to 35 hours was adopted. (It was gutted by Sarkozy's government last July...