Word: royal
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...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...
...statistical slimness of that outcome - 50.02% to 49.98% - was all the 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...
...Given that strutting, it wasn't surprising that the final tally announced at 5 a.m. Saturday left the Royal camp incredulous and outraged...
...Royal, meanwhile, made her main entry into politics as an adviser to the late President François Mitterrand and later held cabinet positions in government where she drew attention by working during her pregnancy - and unapologetically defending family and education positions normally associated with conservatives. Following her presidential defeat, Royal stunned many observers by publicly dumping Socialist Party leader François Hollande - her companion and the father of her four children - and announcing she'd seek his post during the current election. To some, that made Royal the symbol of the strong, modern woman in politics; to others...
...this week's summit of Tibetan exiles, Thondop, a member of Tibet's "royal family", as one young admirer described him, has become a symbol of a generational shift among Tibetans toward support of a free Tibet. "He was there in the beginning," says Tenzin Tsundu, a pro-independence activist. "To hear his voice say that, it's a very emotional thing...