Right wing Senate president hopes to cling to power despite historic swing to left

Incumbent right wing president of the French Senate Gerard Larcher hopes to hold on to his post in a vote on Saturday, despite a historic swing to the Left in Sunday's elections to the Upper House.

Latifa Mouaoued/RFI

The position has symbolic value because under France's constitution, the holder would become interim President of France if the incumbent president were to become incapacitated or die.

The Socialists will announce their candidate on Tuesday.

The current leader of the Socialists in the upper house, Jean-Pierre Bel, is the favourite, but Catherine Tasca, a former minister in Lionel Jospin's government, is also a contender.

Even though the Left narrowly missed an absolute majority in Sunday's Senate elections, right wing UMP Senator Gerard Larcher hopes to keep his job by securing deals with independents and dissident leftists.