They are two figures from the same party, sharing a fairly similar political line, but who, given the circumstances, take two different positions. While the mayor of Lille, Martine Aubry, announced on Thursday May 5 that she was in favor of the agreement reached between the Socialist Party (PS) and La France insoumise (LFI) for the legislative elections, “not without some major reservations”and “call the socialists” to validate it, Anne Hidalgo, the PS’s unfortunate candidate in the presidential election (1.75%) and mayor of Paris, has made it known to oppose it but “does not wish to prevent it”.
“It does not provide the necessary guarantees on subjects as essential as NATO, European defense, secularism and universal values”and “is not done with respect for people, nor with respect for the elected representatives”, said the city councilor to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday afternoon. Mme Hidalgo adds, however, that in the face of “the democratic, social and ecological emergency”she “does not wish to prevent an electoral agreement which aims to combat ecological and social regression”.
Remained silent in recent days, Martine Aubry has made her choice known by means of a press release a few hours earlier, before the holding of the national council of the PS scheduled for 7 p.m. who must validate or not the agreement concluded with LFI the day before.
“Strong aspiration for unity and unity”
“I share the proposals for social justice such as the increase in purchasing power, retirement at 60 for all those who have been worn out by work, the defense of public services, in particular school and health, equality men-women, the development of culture. I obviously support the measures in favor of a resolute action for the climate, as well as for more democracy”start by writing Mme Aubry, while noting “that this agreement does not, however, correspond in all respects to [ses] deep convictions”.
“I have major reservations about Europeshe warns. However open to criticism the current functioning of the European Union, which has encouraged the liberalization of the economy too much and has failed to protect the most vulnerable exposed to the ravages of globalization, France’s place is and remains in the EU »assures M.me Aubrey. “Disobeying treaties and guidelines is not an option. Their revision for more social and ecological justice, on the other hand, must be our objective. We have to do this by fighting internally, especially with countries that are governed by a majority on the left.says the socialist.
“I am aware of the limits of the agreement proposed to us. Like any agreement to oppose the right and the extreme right, it implies that each takes steps towards the other. For too long on the left, we were no longer used to it, discouraging many of those who placed their hopes in us for a better future.again writes Mme Aubry, saying understand what “that such an agreement may represent a disappointment for the candidates of the Socialist Party who were preparing their candidacy in all the constituencies of the country”.
“However, the voters on the left expressed during the first round of the presidential election a strong aspiration for unity and unity. This message must be heard. This is why I call on the socialists to validate this proposed agreement.she continues, before concluding:
Let’s meet what the women and men of the left expect from us and do everything to ensure that the greatest number of elected representatives from the left are present in the National Assembly to block the way for the project defended by Emmanuel Macron and the candidates of La République en Marche.
Number of “elephants” of the PS do not want this agreement
A call that recalls the letter, Wednesday evening, from the socialist mayors Nathalie Appéré (Rennes), Benoît Arrivé (Cherbourg-en-Cotentin), Olivier Bianchi (Clermont-Ferrand), Mathieu Klein (Nancy), Johanna Rolland (Nantes), Cédric Van Styvendael (Villeurbanne) who take “act of the distribution of nominations in our territories, which unequally reflects the action of our local rallying majorities”. “In responsibility, we call on the socialists to validate this agreement which opens the prospect of the gathering of the left and environmentalists”they write.
However, for many “elephants” and elected members of the PS, there is no question of lining up under the banner of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) – which brings together La France insoumise (LFI), the French Communist Party ( PCF) and Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV). And this, despite the historically low score recorded by their candidate, Anne Hidalgo, in the presidential election (1.75%).
Among the most virulent opponents of an agreement with the “rebellious” are the former Minister of Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll, the former Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve, who announced that he was leaving the PS Wednesday, the former first secretary of the PS Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, the president of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga, as well as the former president of the Republic François Hollande. All believe that their political line is incompatible with that, considered radical, of Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the European Union, secularism, institutions or the question of pensions.
To make the sling prosper, the opponents of this marriage of convenience intend not only to emphasize their differences of opinion with the “rebellious”, but also to emphasize the low number of constituencies obtained by the PS during the negotiations. Seventy in number, including around thirty considered winnable, they are indeed a far cry from the more than three hundred invested by the PS in 2017.
“Gathering to Win”
The first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, defended the agreement concluded with the “rebellious”, Thursday morning on BFM-TV. He judges that “the real Socialist Party is a Socialist Party which has accepted in its history to be a party which jostles, with [François] Mitterrand, with [Lionel] Jospin, who had accepted the idea of going towards a form of radicalism”.
The first secretary admitted that he “knew[t] not what will be[it] decision “ of the national council of the PS. ” I trust [aux membres du conseil national]. I will tell them where we stand. We have to consider that the left needs to come together to be able to win”, he said. To praise this agreement for the legislative elections, Mr. Faure explains that he does not wish “rolling out the red carpet under the feet of a presidential majority which will be the cause of serious regressions for the French and the French”. “We have already experienced the unemployment insurance reform. We are now being prepared for the pension reform. »
David Assouline, first secretary of the Paris federation of the PS in Paris and senator, said Thursday afternoon in a tweet that the Parisian Socialists, on a line similar to that of Mme Hidalgo, “responding to the deep aspiration for unity, will not propose[t] not to undo an agreement of our party already committed, despite our reservations, on Europe and on the place granted to our candidates”.