French Socialists split over future after defeat

By Kerstin Gehmlich

PARIS (Reuters) - France's divided and demoralised Socialists demanded rapid and radical reforms on Sunday to revive their party's fortunes after it suffered a third successive defeat in a presidential election.

The soul searching began as soon as it became clear Socialist candidate Segolene Royal had failed to prevent Nicolas Sarkozy extending the conservatives' 12-year grip on the presidency since Francois Mitterrand stepped aside in 1995.

"The left has never been so weak because it has still not renovated itself," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former finance minister beaten by Royal last year in the race to be the party's presidential candidate.

"We could all have done better. By never wanting to look behind, we condemn ourselves."

Royal, who had hoped to be France's first woman president, did better than Lionel Jospin, the Socialist candidate in the last election in 2002. He finished in third place behind veteran far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

But she failed to heal divisions in the party caused by splits over the European Union constitution, which French voters rejected in a referendum in 2005, and was unable to restore the self-belief shaken by the presidential election failure in 2002.

The party is divided over which way to go -- to the centre or back towards more traditional left-wing supporters.

"If there is a unity to find, a common platform, it is not with the extreme left but clearly with the centre," said Socialist former Health Minister Bernard Kouchner.