French Socialists wrangle over party leadership race

The wrangling continues among France's Socialists as they attempt to elect a new party leader, with one of the two candidates alleging irregularities in the vote process and refusing to concede.
The narrow election win of Olivier Faure as party leader was confirmed by an internal commission, the Socialists said on Sunday. Faure currently serves as first secretary.
But his rival Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, who is the mayor of Rouen in the Normandy region, is still contesting the result of the members' vote.
The party had already announced Faure's victory on Friday, but Mayer-Rossignol refused to concede defeat because of alleged irregularities and demanded the establishment of an electoral commission.
This commission met over the weekend and confirmed Faure's win with 51.09% of the vote. Mayer-Rossignol criticized the commission's work and again disputed the result.
He called for a meeting on Monday.
The election focused primarily on the future course of the Socialists with regard to their alliance with the Greens, Communists and the left-wing populists LFI.
Faure believes the coalition is needed and sees no alterantives to it, while Mayer-Rossignol is critical of the deal.
The left-wing bloc was forged last spring in order to run united in the parliamentary election against centrist President Emmanuel Macron.
The alliance was especially controversial among the Socialists. They had to make concessions to Jean-Luc Mélenchon's LFI party, which is much further to the left, because of its poor showing in the presidential election. The parties have individual factions in the National Assembly, but continue to work closely together.