(Adds reactions Mlenchon, details)
PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) – On the strength of her victory in the “popular primary”, Christiane Taubira on Sunday launched a vibrant appeal to the union of the left in view of the presidential election next April in France, which her direct opponents greeted with indifference.
According to the results announced by the association behind this online consultation, which nearly 392,000 voters participated in on Thursday, the former Minister of Justice was ahead of Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mlenchon, registered despite them, just like the socialist Anne Hidalgo, relegated to fifth place.
The environmentalist candidate, the leader of La France insoumise and the mayor of Paris had warned that they would not take this initiative into account, the operating methods of which they rejected in particular.
Christiane Taubira “put on the shoe that had been prepared for her”, commented Jean-Luc Mlenchon afterwards on France 5.
Given favorite, Christiane Taubira, she had accepted the verdict in advance, just like the three other virtual candidates: Pierre Larrouturou, Charlotte Marchandise and Anna Agueb-Porterie.
The online consultation, to which nearly 467,000 people had registered, was organized according to a “majority judgment” system: each personality was rated on a scale of “very good” “insufficient” in response to the question of which of them was in the best position “to help ecology and social justice win the election”.
Christiane Taubira obtained the best majority mention (“good +”), ahead of Yannick Jadot, second with “quite good +”, and Jean-Luc Mlenchon, third, not “quite well -“. Anne Hidalgo, coped with a “passable +” behind Pierre Larrouturou.
“FINDING A CL, A PATH, A LANGUAGE”
Christiane Taubira, who will turn 70 on Wednesday, formalized her candidacy for the presidential election on January 15. Became Keeper of the Seals after the election of Franois Hollande at the Elyse in 2012, she notably piloted the bill opening marriage to same-sex couples and remains a highly appreciated personality on the left.
“We must find a key, a path, a language in order to bring together the left and their sensitivities”, she launched after the announcement of her victory, in front of a conquered audience in the hall of Point phmère, Paris.
“It is our responsibility today in the circumstances, in the situation facing us, in the face of the challenges, but also the difficulties, sometimes subjectivities, reluctance, everything that makes us alive, that we have our personalities, our singularities, our prides.”
“I will take the initiative to call the other candidates”, promised the former deputy from Guyana, who had been a candidate for the Radical Left Party (PRG) in the 2002 presidential election, during which she had obtained 2.32% of the votes cast in the first round.
What do you think of this call for union? “Nothing”, replied Yannick Jadot on Sunday evening on TF1. “It’s one more candidacy, I think it was exactly the opposite of what the popular primary wanted. I hope that now we will be able to campaign,” he added.
“It could have been a moment of gathering, it’s one more candidacy”, also decided Anne Hidalgo.
“I’m a little fed up with phone calls where I’m taken for a ball, let’s say that it ends up indisposing me. But I will answer everyone,” reacted Jean-Luc Mlenchon. (Written by Nicolas Delame and Jean-Stphane Brosse)