PARIS: Segolene Royal won the overwhelming backing of France's Socialists in her bid to become France's first female president, suggesting the party is now ready to put aside internal divisions in its bid to recapture power. Royal won 60.62 percent of votes in Thursday's ballot, with Dominique Strauss-Kahn far behind on 20.83 percent and former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius on 18.54 percent.
"To be chosen in this way is something extraordinary," Royal said as results were coming in early Friday. "I want to embody this change and make it credible and legitimate. I think that tonight this legitimacy has been given to me."The Socialists are rife with divisions that stained the unprecedented American-style campaign leading up to the "primary" vote Thursday. But her solid victory suggested that the party is ready to put differences aside to fight the right — and its front-runner, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. "She's the only one who can really unify the left, and the only one who could beat Sarkozy, the right, and the extreme right," said Florian Liscouet, a 19-year-old student voting in Paris.
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