Behind Pulvar in Ile-de-France, the PS throws its last strength into the campaign to win the game of the left

“Can you feel Japy’s warmth?” “On this scorching Wednesday, the gymnasium in the 11th arrondissement of Paris is suffocating for the” big meeting “of the candidate supported by the Socialist Party in Ile-de-France, Audrey Pulvar. With this public meeting in the room that can accommodate a maximum of 500 people with the Covid-19 measures, the PS wanted to see things in a big way, four days before the first round of regional elections in Paris. Despite the heat, the activists of the six parties which support the list shout themselves and wave flags while fifteen speeches are linked before the arrival of the head of the list, to the cheers.

A small show of force in the home stretch of a difficult campaign. The former journalist, who became president of the Fondation de écolo Nicolas Hulot, then propelled deputy to the mayor of Paris in charge of sustainable food a year ago, suffered from controversy and disappointing polls. Neck-to-neck in voting intentions (around 10%) with two other left-wing lists, those of the ecologist Julien Bayou and the rebellious Clémentine Autain, Audrey Pulvar must achieve the best score this Sunday for s ‘impose as federator in the second round.

“The real left is us! “

“It will be you who will bring together the left and the ecologists in two Sundays,” predicts the first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure at the podium, a fervent supporter of a single candidacy for the presidential election in ten months. “There are two days left to convince France that the left has a future”, advance Guillaume Lacroix, the boss of the Radical Left Party, in front of about 300 supporters.

For the PS, this future goes through the need to survive against its competitors. Reserving her main blows for the outgoing president Valérie Pécresse, whose record is torpedoed, Audrey Pulvar nevertheless tackles the ecologists and the rebellious, implicitly. “The real left is us”, she cries, claiming “the fairest, most ambitious program to fight against inequalities”, in particular thanks to its flagship measure, free public transport. With the project of “long-term citizens’ assembly”, “we have the most ecological program”, she continues, supported by the former minister and former boss of the Greens Emmanuelle Cosse, present on stage.

“Pulvar-bashing”

Anne Hidalgo and Christiane Taubira, headliners of the meeting, are however noticed by their absence. In a ten-minute video, the mayor of Paris sends a message of support to Audrey Pulvar, and also takes the opportunity to praise her record. As for the former Minister of Justice, warmly applauded, she also filmed herself to salute the “courage” of the candidate in the face of “untimely debates”. Audrey Pulvar’s campaign was indeed marked by the
Shattering departure from the top of the list in Seine-Saint-Denis, and especially the controversy after his remarks on single-sex meetings. The exit had cast a chill in his camp and had earned him
a crop from the mayor of Hidalgo.

“Pulvar-bashing”, assures today Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, former boss of the PS, who wants to see it as an encouraging sign. “You have three candidates from the left, and everyone hits the one who can be in the lead.” Tonight, “the family is gathered, it is the responsible left, secular, feminist, republican”, boasts its campaign director Rachid Temal, head of the list in Val-d’Oise. It remains to be seen who will bring together the three left-wing families in Ile-de-France for the second round on June 27. In the meantime, the running mates pose for one last photo as the gymnasium empties, to the sound of “Bella ciao”.