2024-11-30 05:00:00
To make sure she passes the first one, she has been waiting for an hour, standing, leaning on her cane, with her dog on a leash. Behind her, a long and disciplined line winds through the bookshelves until it spills out onto the Grand-Place of Lille. This Tuesday 15 October, the Le Furet du Nord bookshop welcomes a former president who came to sign his new book, The challenge of governing. The left and power from the Dreyfus case to the present day (Perrin, 2024). The lady steps forward and breaks out into a huge smile: “We missed you very much, Mr Hollande. » And, pointing to his dog: “ Meet Romeo. » “It’s very significant,dogs,” he replies. she: “Yes, it does me a lot of good. » him: “If I had known,I would have come with Philae [son labrador]. » He hands her his copy, a sign that the time has come to give up his seat.
Everyone approached a curiosity: a former president who had become a deputy again (only valéry Giscard d’Estaing had carried out this reconversion). Some come to express their admiration, take a selfie or, more prosaically, send a CV. “I have a story with you”, “you are very important to me”, “you made me want to get involved”… In the procession the students and, above all, the female students prevail.The two ask the former head of state to record a short video for their philosophy teacher, to apologize for skipping class.He does it with gusto. “Louanne and Solenn apologize for not being with you because they are with me. »
A shy young woman comes forward: “My father worked in the steel industry and I never knew why he lost his job.I thought you could help me. » And here the ex is forced to return, once again, to the closure of the Florange blast furnaces, which had caused, in November 2012, the first government crisis of his five-year period. Some are also there to tell him that they hope to be able to vote for him in the next presidential election. “Will you be there in 2027? »asks a political science student. Him: “If there is a chance… What is certain is that we have to win… so if I can generate a force around me…” Closes every meeting with ” Until we meet again “, like a promise. In the car that takes him back to Lille station, he pretends to be surprised by this return of clamor among young people: “Maybe it’s because I was their president as a child…” So why not try to become their president in 2027?
