From our special correspondent in Marseille,
“It’s something, the socialist congresses…” Benoit Payan, the mayor of Marseille, undoubtedly described the state of mind of the socialists and observers when he spoke, a few seconds after the validation almost unanimous on the “governance pact”. This “pact” includes the renewal at the head of the PS of Olivier Faure, it validates his political line of pursuit of Nupes, and places Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, his competitor, first deputy secretary, with the mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland (pro-Faure). The hitch, which some see as a gas plant, at least has the merit of avoiding making the Marseille congress the announced bloodbath, and giving hope to the PS to turn the page of a congress which turned sour in the last two weeks.
Hope, because the “pact” does not completely dissipate the thick smoke in which the Socialists arrived at their 80th congress. Sometimes literally, as in this restaurant near the opera, obviously not subject to the same law as elsewhere, where we find, around midnight Friday evening, activists from Refondations, the current of Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. So ? “We have known better, they are leaving to negotiate,” said one of them. Negotiations lasted from Friday evening to late Saturday morning. It has long been difficult to get an idea of the atmosphere as, in the same current at the same time, the morale, the point of view, the forecasts could vary considerably. Caution was the order of the day for everyone, the fear of ruining everything for a wrong word. Ruining an agreement or wrecking the party altogether.
From the bottom, despite everything
Non-regulars sometimes believed that we were not far from it, during the plenary sessions devoted to debates between orientation texts. Applause, boos, sometimes whistles rang out. “But it’s always like that, a congress, even in 2021 when there were no issues there could be attacks in the public”, tempers an activist from Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. As such, the intervention of Patrick Mennucci, from the Dutch current, was worth the detour. In the midst of a social conflict over pension reform, the former Marseille deputy had part of the room applaud that “the PS is not for retirement at 60”, as indicated by the Nupes program. He was volleyed a few minutes later by Clovis Cassan, mayor of Ulis (Essonne) and pro-Faure, who received a standing ovation.
In the psychodrama that the PS has been living in the open air for almost two weeks there are questions of people. The strategic issues of alliances are obviously major. But, contrary to the classic caricature of this type of great political rout, there is, therefore, also substance. He must defend what, the Socialist Party? “Is it really a reform of the left, retirement at 60 for all? Asks a local elected official supporting Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. Maybe we have to modulate, that for a metalworker over 55 it’s too much but for a banking sector executive 63 it’s OK” The same list “the Republic, secularism, police” as points of divergence with the rebels.
Consistency
“Those are slogans,” plagues a pro-Faure Breton. In the camp of the first secretary, it is judged that Refondations, and a fortiori the Dutch, fail to recognize that “the real change in this congress is the line”. The same Clovis Cassan, already quoted, for example has no problem “as suburban mayor” in recognizing “police violence”. “What shocks me is the lack of ambition behind a managerial façade. I want to tell them ”Wake up! Stop telling yourself that 62.5 or 63 years is acceptable for retirement, the question is: do we want a healthy life time not devoted to paid work?
The great paradox of the situation of the Socialist Party is that despite all its differences, in 2023 it is undoubtedly a much more ideologically coherent party than fifteen years ago. “I entered a PS which went from Jean-Luc Mélenchon to Manuel Valls”, recalls Clovis Cassan, the mayor of Ulis. “I feel closer to Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol than to Danièle Obono or Sandrine Rousseau”, cites a pro-Faure deputy as an example. “We have known much worse”, abounds an activist from Refondations who says: “Me in my federation, thirty years ago, the Rocardian and Fabiusian representatives had come to blows. Inevitably, today, there are fewer people to fight with.
At the end of the day, the relief was palpable on all sides. A cautious relief, on the future of the party, as the agreement reached this Saturday is subject to very divergent interpretations. On the Faure side, we have the impression of having won the case in substance and in form “without humiliating anyone”. On the Mayer-Rossignol side, we have the feeling of having put Olivier Faure under probation. “No”, replies the main interested party, with a slight smile on his face. Well, the Socialists will see to the use and cross their fingers.