MOSCOW (Sputnik) — France’s former Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Sunday his bid for presidency was a revolt against Socialists’ expected defeat in the election next year.
"My candidacy is a revolt against the announced disqualification of the left in the presidential race. The left can wake up and find a new hope," Valls told the French newspaper, Le Parisien.
A center-left candidate from the ruling Socialist party is widely predicted to drop out of the first round in the presidential race, scheduled for next April.
Valls stepped down as prime minister on Tuesday to focus on the presidential campaign. He said he believed that Socialists could win. If elected, his task would be to bring unity to the nation, Valls added.
The Socialist party is preparing for two rounds of primaries next month, which it refers to as a "primary of the left." A BVA poll on Wednesday showed leftist votes divided between Valls, former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and Jean-Luc Melenchon from the Left Party, which would prevent them from qualifying for the presidential runoff.
