In Grenoble, Isère
It is true that 23, the number of ecologist deputies elected in June, is the largest parliamentary group in the history of political ecology in France. That, we heard of course at the Summer Days of Ecologists which have been held since Thursday, and until Saturday, in Grenoble (Isère). These 23, in the middle of the 577 members of the National Assembly, and even in the 151 of Nupes (New People’s Ecological and Social Union), do not necessarily weigh very heavily. Not enough, in any case, for some and some internally who found the new elected officials not very audible and unprepared. Rude, after only a few weeks in office.
The result of an always complicated relationship between ecologists and their elected officials? “A few years ago with the Greens, being elected was always a bit of a betrayal. But this is no longer the case, assures David Cormand, former national secretary, now MEP. Today activists are proud of their elected officials, even if they can sometimes pull them up. »
Find your marks
Each and everyone recalls that most of the deputies of the green group are new to the Bourbon Palace, that their group was to be created, unlike the other three components of the Nupes. “Rebellious France was necessarily better organized, things will be rebalanced,” believes Yannick Jadot. On the side of the management of EELV, we defend tooth and nail the work of green elected officials: “I do not know what it is to be unprepared when we have managed to pass so many amendments, thunders number 2, Lea Balage El Mariky. We managed to be audible on the ban on private jets, on the distribution of sobriety efforts. Members of Parliament are audible to the inhabitants of their constituencies. Being audible on Twitter changes no one’s life, but being audible to the prefect when needed changes things radically. »
The deputies themselves seem almost more fluent. “We still have a margin of progress”, concedes for example the deputy of Yvelines Benjamin Lucas: “We are at the service of those who trust us. If some believe that we are not doing the job completely, we must take this into account. “The co-president of the environmental group, Cyrielle Chatelain, local of the stage, recognizes that the good tone has not yet been completely found: “There is an ecological style: to be hardworking, we are elected on files, we will seeking ambitious compromises is our basis. The question is how we manage to be heard by winning victories and making this work more visible. »
“Radically carry things”
To this question, some already have answers: Mélissa Camara, who should wear the colors of Sandrine Rousseau’s current at the EELV congress in December, believes that the ecofeminist deputy from Paris is paving the way forward. “She has a strong and audible voice, especially on social issues. To distinguish oneself, it will be necessary to hold strong convictions, to carry things radically. “The municipal councilor of Lille clarifies it immediately: “That does not necessarily mean making noise. “Because very often, those who advocate a certain radicalism are answered” we are not going to mimic La France insoumise, as Cyrielle Chatelain says. This will never be our strategy”.
The singularity in the debate will be found “in the way in which subjects are taken up. On the question of the climate, of biodiversity, we have the experience, we know what to do, analyzes Yannick Jadot. The former presidential candidate wants at all costs to prevent environmentalists from participating in a political deadlock: The French expect the National Assembly to improve their lives. It is therefore a question of fueling the debate, the work and being ready to make compromises. Not just any of course! But being opposed to all this cannot be the position of environmentalists. ” “We have to be solid on the bottom, abounds David Cormand. Let us insist on our strengths, like Delphine Batho, who was a minister, she is the most capped of all Nupes! »
“Positive Distinction”
Implicitly, it is the question of the identity of the ecologists which is in question: the Nupes, at EELV, even if we like it to varying degrees, everyone seems to be for it, on the condition that the identity ecologists do not dissolve into it. But the question of the distinction with the partners of the alliance is double-edged: “When I arrived in this party, we spent our time defining ourselves in relation to the PS. I don’t want it to start again with Nupes, ”explains Marine Tondelier, favorite to take the helm of EELV at the next congress. “Very comfortable” in Nupes, the mayor of Grenoble, Eric Piolle, has “no fear, the environmentalist DNA is strong enough”, according to him.
“The ecological identity is important, but that’s not what will interest people”, warns Benjamin Lucas, who came to him from Génération•s (the party created by Benoît Hamon, who sits with EELV at the National Assembly). He is more in the idea of a complementarity with the other forces of the Nupes, at worst a “positive distinction”, according to his formula. The mayor of Poitiers, Léonor Moncond’huy, elected at the head of a very broad coalition in 2020 in her city, seeks to reassure her people: “We must not be afraid of spaces like Nupes as activists. Each color is that much stronger than the one next to it. Carrying the environmentalist voice strongly serves the cause of the Nupes. Basically, the vast majority of left-wing voters have been going from green to socialist or even rebellious for years, without necessarily making it a matter of identity conscience in the voting booth.