French Socialist leadership vote too close to call

By Laure Bretton

PARIS (Reuters) - The leadership battle for the French Socialist party is too close to call, a senior politician said early on Saturday, raising the prospect of a recount in the ballot between arch rivals Martine Aubry and Segolene Royal.

Supporters of Aubry, the architect of France's 35-hour work week, earlier claimed a narrow victory against Royal, who lost to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election and is looking to revive her political standing.

However, Royal's camp refused to concede defeat and a top party official told reporters the Socialists were not in a position to announce a winner.

"I cannot give a result at this time because the count is very close," said former Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant.

"Hasty declarations (of victory) do not help our task of coming up with a certain result," he added, giving no indication of when the position would be clearer.

Aubry's supporters had previously told reporters their candidate had won 50.5 percent of the vote with well over 90 percent of ballots counted, sparking protests from Royal's allies who hinted at foul play.

"We will not let them steal a victory," said Manuel Valls, a Royal supporter. Other backers said votes should be recounted.

One Socialist Party official said the two candidates might be separated by only about 200 votes when the tally of ballots cast by the 233,000-strong membership was finally completed.