Segolene Royal blamed divisions in France's Socialist party for her presidential election defeat and urged colleagues on Saturday to pick a candidate for the 2012 poll soon to avoid a repeat.
Her appeal got a cold reception from some leftist veterans who believe Royal wants to seize control of her party on the back of the high profile she built during her doomed bid to become France's first woman president. Royal lost to conservative leader Nicolas Sarkozy last weekend, the Socialist party's third consecutive presidential election defeat.
Party elders wanted to postpone any post-mortem until after June's parliamentary election, hoping to rally their dispirited forces to prevent Sarkozy from winning a landslide.
But Royal raked over the ashes during a meeting of the Socialist national council on Saturday. She told delegates that while Sarkozy had enjoyed unfailing loyalty from his rightist allies, she felt constantly threatened by splits within her own camp and she talked of "betrayal".
"Every morning I would open the newspapers and ask myself which Socialist was going to attack me over what I was saying." Royal, a regional leader in western France, won the nomination last November after a primary election that damaged party unity. By contrast, Sarkozy plotted his path to the presidency for years and his campaign was much slicker.
Royal said the new Socialist champion should be selected after the June election. "The candidate must be picked much more quickly so that he or she does not get worn out by squabbles and internal fighting," Royal told the meeting.
Royal has made clear over the past week she would like to lead the Socialists and her many rivals at the top of the party dismissed her appeal.
"This issue really does not seem at all interesting to me," said former finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who believes the party is locked in antiquated leftist dogma and wants to lead it himself towards the centre. "The question of presidential candidates is closed for now," he told reporters as he left the council meeting.
An IFOP opinion poll published on Saturday showed 39 percent of people thought Strauss-Kahn was better placed to renew the Socialists against 37 percent who supported Royal.
Party leader Francois Hollande, who is also the father of Royal's four children, called for discussion on the presidential election to be delayed until after June but indicated he thought voters shunned the left because of its manifesto. "The programme did not appear coherent enough," he said.
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