French power couple may become rivals

PARIS, July 21 (UPI) -- France's Segolene Royal and Francois Hollande are lovers but may become political rivals as each seeks the Socialist Party's nomination for president.

Royal is the party's front-runner in opinion polls, while Hollande is the party leader, reports the International Herald Tribune. The two must now decide who will run for president of France next spring to succeed President Jacques Chirac.

The Tribune said Royal, 52, leads not only Hollande, 51, but all the other likely candidates. But as the head of the party, Hollande wields considerable clout. The party will choose its candidate in November.

"It is an intriguing story of love, politics and rivalry," Bernard Kouchner, a fellow Socialist and veteran politician who has known the couple for a long time, was quoted as saying. "It reads like a novel."

Royal, an officer's daughter, and Hollande, a brilliant young student activist, reportedly met at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, France's top school for civil servants. After entering politics, they both won their first parliamentary seats in 1988.

Though never married, they have lived together for 26 years and have four children, the Herald Tribune said.

A new poll based on telephone interviews shows Royal with a 62 percent popularity rating compared to Hollande's 41 percent.