Royal at the Socialist Party congress in Reims on Sunday. (AP) (Below)Sarkozy: No challenger

Reims, France, Nov. 16 (Reuters): France’s main Opposition Socialist Party today failed to agree on a new leader to challenge Right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy, its weekend congress ending in division and acrimony.

The congress was intended to agree policy lines and heal rifts that have rendered the Socialists ineffective as an Opposition since Segolene Royal led them to a third successive presidential electoral defeat, against Sarkozy, 18 months ago.

Royal is standing to lead the party again against Sarkozy, who through all fluctuations in opinion polls has launched domestic reforms and won a high international profile; but rivals who blame her for the presidential defeat refused to unite behind her at the congress in the eastern city of Reims.

“The hand that we held out to the other leaders... was not seized,” Royal said in the middle of the night after marathon talks with her rivals failed to yield a consensus.

A polarising figure, the glamorous Royal is seen by admirers as a force for renewal with mass appeal, while her detractors see her as a political lightweight with no consistency.

Her speech to the congress yesterday brought half the audience to its feet to acclaim her while the other half jeered.

At one point, she urged Socialists to “love one another” — to mocking boos from many in the hall.

An opinion poll published today in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper showed voters were fed up with the Socialists. Only 32 per cent said the party had good leaders, while 27 per cent said it had a genuine project for the country.

In the first of three stages to renew leadership, members voted last week on competing “motions”, or broad policy ideas.

Royal’s motion came first with just under 30 per cent, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe scored 25 per cent and Martine Aubry, a former minister best known as the author of the 35-hour working week, also scored 25 per cent. Benoit Hamon, a younger leader from the Left of the party, obtained 19 per cent.

The four were supposed to come up with a compromise text and agree on a consensus leader at Reims, the second stage of the process. The third stage will be a vote by party members on the leader, scheduled for Thursday.

But after the flop at Reims, members will have to choose between Royal, Aubry and Hamon, the discouraged Delanoe having dropped out of the race. The vote could divide the party at the grassroots.

Whoever wins will head a wounded party, facing the danger of a fourth consecutive defeat in a presidential election.

At Reims, Royal’s faction was unable to reconcile its views with the others, especially on two contentious issues — whether to forge an alliance with Centrists for the 2012 presidential election, and whether to lower fees to join the party.

Royal favours these two policies, but her opponents say the party should be firmly anchored to the Left, while cheapening party membership would weaken it by diluting its identity.

Royal said that if elected she would put the question of the Centrists to a vote by party members to resolve the argument, but this failed to persuade any of her rivals to join her.

It is painfully clear to everyone at the congress that the real problems are personality clashes between the rival leaders.

Delanoe, Aubry and Hamon are united only in their dislike of Royal, but they do not get along well enough to agree on a single candidate to oppose her.