Socialists In Disarray After Leadership Vote

The Socialists said Aubry won 50.02 percent support in Friday`s ballot against 49.98 percent for Royal.

Segolene Royal refused to concede defeat on Saturday in a bitter battle to lead France's Socialist party and criticised her rival Martine Aubry for claiming victory when the contested vote was still under review.

Socialist officials said Aubry, architect of the defunct 35-hour work week, defeated her rival Royal by just 0.04 percentage points, or 42 votes, in Friday's ballot of party members.

However, French media reported that at least 18 votes had been wrongly attributed to Aubry and the beleaguered Socialist party said it would review all complaints on Monday before certifying the result on Tuesday.

Royal's supporters accused the Aubry camp of trying to rig the ballot, which risks tearing France's main opposition party in two and looks certain to bolster the position of centre-right President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Aubry made a brief statement on Saturday making clear she considered herself to be the rightful victor and promised to heal the Socialists many self-inflicted wounds.

"I want to be and I will be the first secretary of Socialist party members," she said. "The question is no longer who won or who lost. We will all have lost if we can't quickly unite."

But within hours, the media-savvy Royal appeared on France's main evening news show to say she was not abandoning the fight.

"It is very strange to see a candidate in an election proclaim herself to have won when at the same time a certain number of votes are being recounted," Royal told TF1 television, adding that the only solution was to hold a new vote.

"Every time people say I am dead, I rise up again and I will win tomorrow," said Royal, who stood for the Socialist party in last year's presidential election and was beaten by Sarkozy.

FRESH BLOOD, BAD BLOOD

Political commentators warned that the enmity between the rival camps could sink the once-mighty Socialist party, which was refounded by former President Francois Mitterrand in 1971 but has been riven by deep divisions for a decade.

"This is a disaster for the Socialist party, for democracy, for the image of politics and for the two candidates," said veteran analyst Alain Duhamel. "This is an unsustainable situation for the Socialist party," he told RTL radio.

Royal had presented herself as a force for change and promised to inject fresh blood into the party, but her critics accused her of being quixotic and said she would drive the Socialists to the centre of the political spectrum.

Aubry, the daughter of former European Commission President Jacques Delors, had promised to anchor the party firmly to the left and drew together a broad alliance of veterans to try to derail Royal, who has solid grassroots support.

Mayor of the northern city of Lille, Aubry is best known for penning a 2000 law which cut the work week to 35 hours from 39.

She argued the measure would force firms to hire more staff and thereby reduce unemployment. Critics said the law damaged French productivity and Sarkozy has largely dismantled it over the past 18 months.

Sarkozy's ruling UMP party could not conceal its delight over the ferocious infighting on the left.

"The Socialist party is a shambles," the UMP said in a statement. "Nothing unites the party leaders apart from hatred of a quite astonishing violence," it added.