Fall of the old guard?

Segolene Royal’s election as presidential candidate for the presendentials to be held in April next year certainly seems a step in the right direction. She is a breath of fresh air in the otherwise insipid French domestic politics. Whether she will actually bring in the change she promised remains to be seen. An unwed mother of four children winning such widespread acceptance in a catholic rather traditional country is the indication of a change that is sweeping all of Western Europe. It is a signal that it is Royal’s work and politics that matter to the French public, not the details of her private life. Will she actually do what she has promised to do? Only time will tell…