French Socialists crown Royal presidential candidate

PARIS, Nov 26 (Reuters) To standing ovations and long, roaring applause, France's Socialists crowned Segolene Royal as their candidate for next year's presidential poll at a special party congress.

In a speech interrupted by Socialists chanting ''Segolene -- President'', Royal evoked her battle as a feminist and promised to make France a fairer place if she was elected as the country's first woman president in 2007.

''We are writing today a beautiful chapter of French history,'' a radiant Royal said, speaking from a mini-catwalk leading into the rows of some 1,300 applauding Socialists.

Yesterday's crowning ceremony follows party members' vote 10 days ago, when the leader of the western Poitou-Charentes region overwhelmingly beat two more experienced party rivals.

Speaking in a hall bathed in pink light, Royal vowed to eradicate all forms of injustices in France -- whether they were economic, based on ethnic backgrounds or gender.

''There is a strong correlation between the status of a woman and the state of justice or injustice in a country,'' Royal said, vowing to make fighting violence against women a priority.

''By choosing a woman to lead the battle of ideas and to incarnate hope, you have ... accomplished a real revolutionary gesture,'' Royal told delegates to long and loud applause.

Royal has won her party's nomination with a campaign built on the image of a youthful and forceful leader, but some critics have accused her of populism and of lacking clear ideas, saying she is using her good looks to win voter sympathy.

''READY FOR REFORMS'' Royal has defended tough law-and-order policies, including military-style training for persistent young offenders.

Adopting a softer tone, she has also promised more grassroots democracy and picked her speeches with personal and flowery notes, portraying her views as those of ''a mother'' and calling on the French to ''love their country and themselves''.

''The French are ready for reforms. But they don't want decisions imposed on them without involving them,'' said Royal, who has called for citizen juries to hold lawmakers accountable.

Royal spoke out against too radical free-market economics and vowed to battle the right, whose presidential frontrunner -- Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy -- is seen in a head-to-head race with Royal in opinion surveys.

During her campaign, Royal sometimes deviated from her party's official line. But on Sunday, she vowed to unite the left, smilingly greeting her former rivals for the party's presidential ticket -- former Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn and former prime minister Laurent Fabius.

Royal thanked party leader Francois Hollande, who also is her partner. ''If we are today united ... it's thanks to him.'' The party has struggled to overcome its defeat in the 2002 presidential poll, when far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen forced Socialist Lionel Jospin out of the second round run-off.

Reuters BDP DB0844