The call of despair. At 16 days from the closing of sponsorships and with only 73 signatures, Christiane Taubira is worried about not succeeding in gathering enough votes from mayors to be able to run for president. The left-wing candidate who had won the citizen primary is therefore appealing to obtain the precious sponsorships. “As you know, collecting 500 signatures is, more than ever, difficult for many candidates,” she wrote in her letter.
“If I did not manage to collect the necessary signatures, the democratic debate would be amputated by the words of a stateswoman, free of parties and fully committed to restoring to the Republican left the honor it has lost over the years. years. “I solemnly appeal to you: if, as you know, your sponsorship does not necessarily constitute support for my project, it remains essential to my candidacy. You hold the key to the democratic debate for the presidential election. I’m counting on you, ”she pleads. “My candidacy, however acquired after a vote (of the popular primary, editor’s note) having mobilized 400,000 people, risks being hindered due to political maneuvers or intimidation”, she says again.
“There is a difference between convincing and constraining”
Tuesday evening, Christiane Taubira again accused the Socialist Party of being maneuvering. “There always comes a time when […] the boss of the Socialist Party is whistling the end of the freedom of the Radical Party” on the left, which announced Monday its “withdrawal” from its campaign, she declared on LCI. The boss of the PS Olivier Faure immediately denied on Twitter: “The boss of the Socialist Party does not whistle anyone. Everyone is free from their commitments. No fake trial between us. »
Jean-François Debat, mayor of Bourg-en-Bresse and in particular in charge of seeking sponsorship for the campaign of the socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo, said on Wednesday “sorry to see this attitude”: “I take care to call the mayors, to convince them, but between convincing and constraining, there is a difference. I don’t see how we could ban them from anything, ”he insisted.
As for the PRG, “it proves above all that there have been internal discussions” on whether or not to support the candidate, he added. Anne Hidalgo already has 1,008 sponsorships. “There are a lot of mayors of small towns not listed” and “20% of people who had never come forward before,” he said.