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Ségolène Royal unveils economic campaign platform - Katrin Bennhold
VILLEPINTE, France: Ségolène Royal, the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party, unveiled a long- awaited platform on Sunday, veering sharply to the left on economic policy while also stressing discipline and "traditional values." In a two-hour speech to about 10,000 supporters north of Paris, she laid out a 100-proposal platform, pledging to raise pensions, to increase the minimum wage to €1,500, or about $2,000, a month and to guarantee a job or further training for every youth within six months of graduating from university.
As if to preempt her opponents on the right, she stressed throughout her speech that her ideas had been nourished in 6,000 debates with citizens throughout France, a method she has called "participative democracy." "With me, politics will never again happen without you," a combative Royal, 53, told the crowd of flag-waving supporters wearing her logo on T-shirts and stickers. "Today I offer you a presidential pact: 100 proposals for France to rediscover a shared ambition, pride and fraternity." Sunday marked the end of the two- month "listening phase" Royal decreed after her nomination in November. On her campaign Web site, a sky blue background was replaced by the blue, white and red of the national flag, and regional campaign teams were equipped with booklets summarizing her program.
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