Centre-right politician Raphael Glucksmann has won France’s primary of the left to become the its candidate in next year's presidential elections, positioning himself as the centre-left’s main alternative to hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon in the face of the rise of far right leader Marine Le Pen.
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Glucksmann, 46, a European lawmaker who leads the centre-left Place Publique party, won Sunday's primary in the first round of voting with 66 percent of the 120,787 votes cast.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure came in second with just 14 percent of the vote, and the other three candidates scored less than ten percent.
"I am the candidate who stands for a break with Macronism, the candidate who stands for a break with Jean-Luc Melenchon’s hegemony over the French left, the candidate who can defeat our long-standing enemy – the far right," he told party activists after the vote.
Glucksmann, who ruled out any cooperation with Melenchon when he announced his candidacy, faces the challenge of uniting a fractured left in the face of an increasingly powerful far right.
He is currently polling at between nine and 14 percent, well behind the frontrunner, far right candidate Marine Le Pen, despite her conviction for embezzlement that was upheld by an appeals court in July.
He also trails centre-right contender Edouard Philippe, who served as prime minister under Macron, and Melenchon, whose France Unbowed party boycotted the primary.
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Glucksmann had distanced himself from what he called "classical political" circles, and yet, it is in his interest to work with the established Socialist party, whose leader, Faure, has been open to alliances with the hard left.
Though he is popular with young people, Glucksmann’s critics say he is too detached from the realities of everyday French people to be a credible candidate.
In response, he underlines his past human rights work in conflict zones such as Rwanda, where he worked in the aftermath of the genocide.
He has been a staunch defender of Ukraine in the European Parliament and has focused on human rights since he was elected in 2019.
During his campaigning across France this summer, he put forward a programme rooted in the left that tries to reconcile ecological transition with social progress.
The first round of France's presidential election is set for 18 April, with a second round runoff two weeks later on 2 May.
(with newswires)