Former French Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard on Friday called for a coalition between the Socialist Party (PS)'s candidate Segolene Royal and the Union for French Democracy (UDF)'s candidate Francois Bayrou, to defeat the ruling Union for a Popular Movement party (UMP)'s candidate Nicolas Sarkozy in the forthcoming 2007 presidential elections.

In an article published in the opinion page of the French daily "Le Monde," Rocard is urging Bayrou and Royal to come together, " before the first round," in the path of a "sincere and constructive alliance" to defend "in the second round, and later during the legislative elections, a joint project of hope for France."

"If Nicolas Sarkozy is elected in a few weeks, we shall have no excuse. UMP will win the legislative elections which will follow and France will suffer for the next five years," warned the former PM in Francois Mitterrand's government.

He described Bayrou as a "social democrat," noting the convergences between the Socialist Party and the UDF on " employment, housing, debt, education, and Europe."

"If they remain isolated, none of them or us will have a chance of defeating a coalition between Nicolas Sarkozy and the extreme-right National Front's Jean-Marie Le Pen. But rallied together with the Green party, the left social-democrat and central social-democrat can build a majority in the country. And in two weeks, it can become the real majority," Rocard affirmed.

Bayrou, who had touched on nominating a socialist Prime minister if elected president, welcomed Rocard's appeal on Friday, saying "this intuition which I have advocated and defended for a long time, has now been confirmed by Michel Rocard's declarations ", he said on France Inter radio.

Segolene Royal has not directly responded to Rocard's appeal. While giving a speech in the province, she nevertheless extended an olive branch to "men and women of progress beyond the left, who believe that France has the capacity to put in place social progress for all and respect for each one."

The Communist Party presidential candidate Marie-George Buffet expressed her fear for what she termed as "a shift to the right" by the French political class.

"The appeal by Michel Rocard sounds like an alarm signal. Coming after weeks of veiled mutual messages between Sarkozy and Le Pen, it reveals the extent of a dangerous shift to the right by French political class," Buffet said.

Source: Xinhua