PARIS， Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- An opinion poll on voter intentions released on Thursday showed ex-prime minister Manuel Valls was dominating the Socialist party competition for the 2017 French presidential race.
With 43 percent， Valls is set to top the first-round primary， outpacing ex-economy minister Arnaud Montebourg by 18 percentage points.
Benoit Hamon， the country's former education minister， is predicted to rank third with 22 percent of the vote， according to a Harris Interactive survey conducted for France Televisions.
However， whoever wins the Socialist ticket in the Jan. 22 and 29 primary elections has little chance of making it to the run-off round of the presidential election in May， the country's pollsters said.
There are seven declared contenders for the left primary， including former ministers Vincent Peillon and Sylvia Pinel， in addition to ecologists Francois de Rugy and Jean-Luc Bennahmias.
Ex-economy minister Emmanuel Macron and Jean-Luc Melenchon， head of far-left party， have launched their own campaigns， which is likely to divide votes and crush the left parties' hope to build enough momentum to challenge the conservative candidate Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen， leader of the far-right National Front party.
Valls， 54， became France's prime minister in 2014 in a bid to win back the Socialists' popularity after their heavy defeat in the mayoral run-off.
If he wins， Valls， a security hardliner， plans to recruit 5，000 additional police officers over the next five years and raise the defense budget to 2.0 percent of France's gross domestic product， in order to strengthen security in a country where terror threats remain high.
In a bid to regain the confidence of upset left voters， he proposed a welfare handout which would be accessible to people in need and to reduce tax on overtime work to improve households' purchasing power.
Contenders for the left primary will defend their presidential bids in three televised debates scheduled for Jan. 12， 15， and 19.
(Source: Xinhua)
Soldiers Cheap Alexis Sanchez Jersey , officers of aircraft carrier Liaoning visit elders in HK
Celebration for liberation of Mosul held in Iraq
Panda twins celebrate first birthday at Chongqing Zoo
Ancient city wall under repair in N China's Hebei
Soldiers, officers of aircraft carrier Liaoning visit elders in HK
Number of Tibetan antelopes rises to over 200,000 at Changtang in Tibet
Blooming cole flowers attract tourists in NW China's Xinjiang
Weekly choices of Xinhua photo
BAGHDAD Cheap Alexandre Lacazette Jersey , Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- While militants of the Islamic State (IS) are making fresh gains in northern Iraq, Baghdad was plunged into political infighting after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced his decision late Sunday to sue President Fuad Masum for alleged constitutional violation.
In a nationally televised speech on Sunday night, Maliki accused Masum of missing the deadline to ask the country's biggest political bloc to nominate a prime minister and form a government as stipulated in Iraq's constitution.
Calling it "a coup on the country's constitution and political process Cheap Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Jersey ," Maliki said he would later submit an official complaint to the federal court.
EMBATTLED MALIKI
Maliki's complaint came at a time when his bid for a third-term as prime minister gained little support from either inside his country or other nations that used to be his allies, such as the United States and Iran.
Regional experts and analysts have been accusing Maliki's Shiite -dominant government of being unfair and not inclusive of the Sunni minority, stoking sectarian tensions in the deeply divided nation.
In face of the sweeping gains of the Islamic State militants Cheap Alex Iwobi Jersey , calls for a more inclusive government that could mobilize the nation to confront the threat from the IS are growing ever louder.
Shortly after Maliki's announcement, the United States voiced its support for President Masum in his role as "guarantor of the Iraqi Constitution."
"We reaffirm our support for a process to select a Prime Minister who can represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner," said a statement from the U.S. State Department.
"We reject any effort to achieve outcomes through coercion or manipulation of the constitutional or judicial process Cheap Ainsley Maitland-Niles Jersey ," it added.
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
As the IS are gaining significant ground in northern part of Iraq, hundreds of civilians in those conflict areas are reportedly subjected to serious atrocities and forced to flee.
"The U.N. continues to receive reports that members of minority communities are being subjected to serious human rights violations by ISIL (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, former name of the Islamic State) including murder Cheap Aaron Ramsey Jersey , kidnappings, forces conversions, physical and sexual assault Wholesale Arsenal FC Jerseys , and the looting and destruction of property and places of religious and cultural significance," said Deputy Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Iraq Gyorgy Busztin.
Many of those displaced or directly affected by the violence belong to Iraq's minority religious and ethnic communities -- including Yazidi, Christians Cheap Arsenal FC Jerseys , Shabak, Turkomen and others.
A Yazidi journalist named Luqman al-Sinjari who lives in Arbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdish region Wholesale Arsenal Jerseys , told Xinhua that hundreds of Yazidi minority members had been killed simply because they refused to convert to Islam.
U.S. POLICY QUESTIONED
U.S. fighter jets and drones have launched air raids on targets of IS in northern Iraq for five consecutive days since Obama authorized the move on Thursday to protect Americans as well as to conduct humanitarian missions.
Obama pledged that the United States "will continue to provide military assistance and advice to the Iraq. Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Free Shipping
