It’s an explosive photo montage,
very popular on social networks, which illustrates the union of the left in Ile-de-France for the second round of regional. The photo shows Audrey Pulvar (PS), Julien Bayou (EELV) and Clémentine Autain (LFI) in “superhero” mode, surviving fire and debris. These three arrive together, but without the flames, this Thursday evening, on the stage of Bellevilloise, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. A common meeting, three days before the decisive election, to try to beat the outgoing right-wing president, Valérie Pécresse.
“We were said to be irreconcilable, here we are compact and united as never before”
“Our opponents are very nervous because we can win. Our rally makes us formidable opponents facing the outgoing right, ”proclaims the deputy and rebellious candidate Clémentine Autain. “We carry this hope because we have managed to unite. It is not an alliance of circumstance, but a fundamental gathering ”. Divided before the first round, the three candidates managed to agree to merge their lists on Monday behind Julien Bayou. If the former Republicans Valérie Pécresse came clearly in the lead with 35.94% of the vote on Sunday, the left is counting on an addition of their three scores (about 34% in total), to reshuffle the cards.
“For months, we were promised the worst. Result: the three of us are qualified and united for the second round because we have been able to put our ideas for ecological transformation of society on the agenda, ”defends Audrey Pulvar. Julien Bayou, in the process, thanked his new partners: “We found an agreement easily because what plays is greater than the device disagreements. We were said to be disunited, here we are gathered. We were told at bay, here we are conquerors. We were said to be irreconcilable, here we are compact and united as ever ”.
A local union that highlights national divisions
It is true, it is not frequent to find the united left. In the room, many personalities are also part: the founder of Generation. s Benoît Hamon, LFI deputies Eric Coquerel and Alexis Corbière, as well as EELV senator Esther Benbassa. A meeting which reveals, by contrast, the eternal divisions of the left at the national level, ten months before the presidential election.
“Consensus is easier to find at the local level, we know our differences and the urgencies for the region, we know where we want to go. And we are on a proportional vote, it’s an advantage, ”admits Ghislaine Senée, head of the EELV list in Yvelines. “The rules were fixed very quickly: the leading candidate will rally in the second round. As much at the national level, there are fundamental disagreements, on Europe in particular, which cannot be resolved in a snap, as much at the regional level, the programmatic convergences are very strong. On free transport, for example, it was only a question of degrees, ”adds William Martinet, rebellious candidate in the Yvelines.
This coalition strained the end of the campaign. Valérie Pécresse and others on the right called to block the “far left”. The outgoing president also received the support of former Prime Minister Manuel Valls and that, more unexpected, of Jean-Paul Huchon, his former opponent PS and predecessor, who led Ile-de-France from 1998 to 2015. Support that was condemned on the left, in particular by Lionel Jospin, figurehead of the plural left.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon pinned by some PS officials
But for all that, this coalition, which has also been forged in other regions such as Pays de la Loire or Hauts-de-France, could it move the lines for the presidential election? The case still seems to be badly done. Anne Hidalgo, who does not hide her ambitions for 2022, thus supported the Ile-de-France union, while specifying that she would “never make an alliance (…) with the rebels”. The PS mayor of Paris did not deprive himself of tackling in passing “the often very violent words” of their leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Several PS and EELV personalities also made a point of distinguishing between Clémentine Autain and the rebellious tribune. “Clémentine Autain is not Mélenchon, she defends lines with which you feel closer. Mélenchon was very hard with the ecologists, but we ignore it because the stake is Ile-de-France, ”breathes Ghislaine Senée.
On the rebellious side, we refuse to give a national echo to these regional alliances. “We want to score as high as possible with lists that can improve the daily lives of residents. There are no other issues, sweeps Eric Coquerel. The attacks by some socialists show that they are already in the tactics for 2022, ”he adds. At the end of the meeting, the public gets up and applauds the three allies. “All together, all together! Hey ! Hey ! », Sings the people of the left with one voice. All together, at least, until the end of the second round on Sunday.