Will the Socialist Party straighten its head after a catastrophic presidential election? That’s the whole point of the 80e congress of the PS, which opens next week and will end with three days in Marseilles between January 27 and 29. Three candidates, who compete in a televised debate on Friday January 6, at 9 p.m., on Franceinfo, are opposed for the head of the party. The current incumbent, Olivier Faure, the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, Hélène Geoffroy, and the mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. On Thursday, January 12, during the first round, the members will vote on the orientation texts, in other words the professions of faith expressing the political line presented by the three contenders for the post of first secretary. During the second round, on January 19, they will have to decide between the two winners. What are the candidates’ chances, their motivations, their networks? Detail review.
Olivier Faure, the favorite
Renewed with a score of 73% at the Villeurbanne congress in 2021, Olivier Faure is playing his re-election. If he remains the favorite of the stage, the irruption of the candidacy of Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, will suck up some of the voters. The critics of the deputy of Seine-et-Marne accuse him of having put the Socialist Party in the wheel of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France insoumise (LFI), by signing the agreement of the New Popular Union ecological and social (Nupes), to have lost many militants, and not to have brought out a new political project. Jostled, the boss of the PS tries to give them pledges. He promised to make the mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland, his number 2 if he was reappointed. A choice perceived as a desire, on the part of Mr. Faure, to show that he intends to open up to the “great elected officials” of the party.
While the prospect of a joint list with LFI in the 2024 European elections was a source of division within the PS, environmentalists removed a thorn from its side by announcing that they wanted to go it alone. “As soon as the greens don’t go there, the question no longer arises”confirms Pierre Jouvet, loyal to Mr. Faure, who hopes in the first round for a score of between 50 and 52%. “Afterwards, we will call for the gathering of all socialists”completes the PS spokesperson.
Hélène Geoffroy, the anti-Nupes figure
It is behind the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin that the “Dutch”, sworn enemies of Olivier Faure, have placed themselves. At the previous congress, Hélène Geoffroy came in second with 27% of the vote. “Olivier Faure is responsible for our 1.74% [à la présidentielle], she explained to AFP. Since the quinquennium of François Hollande, we have not worked on what fractured us during the quinquennium and on the subjects which concern the French”. True to her line, she promises to leave Nupes if she is elected, unlike Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, who is careful not to go that far.
You have 43.59% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.