Hamon eases to Socialist primary victory in French presidential race

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Benoit Hamon, former education minister and traditional left-winger, on Sunday became the Socialist party's candidate for France's upcoming presidential election, after comfortably beating his rival Manuel Valls in the primary run-off, partial results showed.

With votes from 4,322 out of 7,500 polling stations counted, Hamon enjoyed a comfortable win, 58.65 percent of votes ahead of Valls' 41.35 percent, organizers said.

Benoit Hamon, former education minister and traditional left-winger, on Sunday became the Socialist candidate for France's upcoming presidential election. /Xinhua Photo

"Tonight the left raises its head and turns to the future. Our country needs a modern and innovative left. We must write a new page of our history," Hamon told his supporters.

"I assess with gravity and lucidity the responsibility that you entrusted me ... In face of a conservative right and a destructive far right, France needs the left," he added in his victory speech.

The Socialist presidential candidate is believed to be seeking a united front with other independent left-wing candidates, such as Jean-Luc Melenchon and Yannick Jadot, who both launched their own campaigns.

Former prime minister Valls, 54, quickly conceded defeat, saying "Benoit Hamon has clearly won."

"Hamon is the candidate of our political camp," he acknowledged.

Hamon, 49, had long trailed in opinion polls before he made a spectacular surge after three televised debates. During the debates, he styled himself as the unifier of the beleaguered Socialist party, which suffered severe rifts during the time of President Francois Hollande.

Hamon resigned from Hollande's government as education minister, in protest over what he said was a too liberal economic policy.

During his campaign, Hamon proposed a universal basic income for every single French citizen aged over 18, regardless of whether they are employed or not.

He also vowed to repeal the controversial labor reform which aims to soften job market rules and offer more flexibility to companies, in the case of his election.

After dominating France's political landscape for decades, the Socialists and the broader left are weakened by internal upheavals that are blocking their way to building momentum to take on the Republicains and Front National.

A Kantar Sofres-OnePoint survey for Le Figaro, RTL and LCI released on Sunday showed Hamon, collecting 15 percent of vote intentions in the presidential election's first round, is behind centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron.

The poll also predicted populist leader Marine Le Pen would win on April 23 with 25 percent, against conservative Francois Fillon's 22 percent.

(Source: Xinhua)

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