Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol has the art of being where you least expect him. This Tuesday, January 17, we find the mayor of Rouen, rival of Olivier Faure for the direction of the Socialist Party (PS), Japy gymnasium in Paris, applauding Mathilde Panot, very upset against the pension reform. “We will make Macron and this government bend”, launches the leader of the deputies La France insoumise (LFI), in front of a thousand people. That evening, the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) held its first meeting against the pension reform. On the platform, Olivier Faure, Marine Tondelier, from Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV), Fabien Roussel, from the Communist Party (PC) and François Ruffin (LFI) follow one another to speak. What is Mr. Mayer-Rossignol doing in this room, who has been engaged since September 2022 in a regular criticism of the alliance of left-wing movements, within Nupes? “I remain faithful to my central way of rallying the leftjustifies the troublemaker of the PS congress. Faced with the regression that the right wants to impose on us on pensions, we must remain united. »
Thursday, January 19, during the second round of the congress, the forty-year-old looking like the top of the class disputes the place of first secretary of the PS to the current holder of the post. A week earlier, his orientation text, “Refoundations”, won 30% of the votes of activists, ahead of that of Hélène Geoffroy (20%), who represents supporters of François Hollande within the party. Trained in politics by Laurent Fabius, the city councilor of Rouen considers victory possible, with the help of the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin (Rhône), who called on his troops to support him.
The day after the first vote, the duo met in a Parisian café. Officially, “there were no device negotiationsshe swears. The main subject is to bring down Faure”. But this beginning of alliance tenses the opposite camp. Will activists vote “the return of the elephants? », spear, acid, Olivier Faure, waving the face of François Hollande like a red rag. On January 16, the former President of the Republic himself called, on France Inter, to vote for Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, whom he considers most capable of “gather the socialists”.
« Impasse »
A call from the foot addressed to the many abstainers, for the most part supporters of Hélène Geoffroy, who did not bother to move last week, we believe we know in his ranks. The relatives of the first secretary, who obtained 49% of the vote, show themselves, “reasonably confident”, considering that a bonus benefits the outgoing and that some of the members who voted for the Rouennais simply wanted to send a warning to Olivier Faure. It prevents. The latter does not expect to win hands down. The Nupes agreement has left its mark on activists, to the point that the result of Thursday’s vote could jeopardize its future.
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