Ár Ré presidential primary, 4374

Ár Ré held a presidential primary in 4374. The party did not contest the July 4371 presidential elections; previously, the party's presidential candidate was James Maclaren. The election was contested between Ruth Williams, the party's Deputy Leader and Minister for Health and Social Services, and backbencher Tokowi Bethson. A total of 29,949 votes were cast. Williams expectedly won the election in a landslide.

Background
The party came in first in the July 4371 legislative election: it won 260 out of 717 seats and accumulated over 20 million votes in the popular vote. However, Maclaren, the party's incumbent presidential candidate, withdrew his candidacy. The party made an exception not to contest that year's presidential election, as there were no interested presidential candidates. By the party's constitution, if no candidates are nominated for the presidential primary, the primary will have to be re-run until a suitable candidate emerges; the party's membership voted to circumvent that procedure in a special conference.

Procedure
The last revision for the presidential primary was in 4350 and no significant changes have been made then.

Those seeking to join the presidential primary must be members of Ár Ré, and pay a fixed deposit. Signatories for their candidacy are optional. In the event that more than six candidates participate in the primary, all but six candidates in the first round will be eliminated.

Candidates
Two candidates nominated themselves for the presidential primary. Williams, widely considered to be the party's next presidential candidate and Leader, announced her candidacy on July 8, with the backing of the majority of the Cabinet and parliamentary party.

Several others put themselves up for contention in the primary. Giuseppe Giovanni, a prominent Cabinet member, considered running for the primary but decided against it - he endorsed Williams.