Socialist outsider and ex-PM Valls head for runoff in presidential primary

Benoit Hamon, a former Socialist government rebel, won the first round of a primary on Jan. 22, and will meet ex-prime minister Manuel Valls in a runoff to decide who will be the candidate of the beleaguered left in a presidential election in spring. 

Hamon, 49, a traditional left-winger who was sacked from government by President Francois Hollande for criticizing his economic policies, coasted to a comfortable win ahead of Valls, a former Hollande loyalist in government, according to partial results, Reuters reported. 

With the field now whittled down from seven candidates to two and Valls and Hamon set to meet mid-week for what could be a testy televised debate, the final outcome was hard to predict. 

But former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who trailed in third place, gave Hamon, a party ally on the left, an advantage by criticizing Valls's pro-business policies and urging his supporters to vote for Hamon Jan. 29. 

Hamon's key proposal, which would see unemployed and low-income workers receive a monthly payment of between 600 and 750 euros ($795) a month, would entail a costly and radical reform of state spending - some 300 billion euros a year, by Hamon's own estimates.

He sees basic income as a response to the erosion of jobs caused by the digital revolution, proposing a tax on the wealth created by the use of robots to help underwrite the cost.

"We need a tax system that is based not on the number of workers in our companies but on the wealth created by the company," Hamon has argued, according to AFP.

Polls indicate Fillon, a former prime minister who has The Republicans ticket, is most likely to win if he is pitted against National Front leader Le Pen in a May 7 head-to-head.