The elected members of the Radical Left Party led by Guillaume Lacroix are now free not to sponsor the former Keeper of the Seals for his presidential candidacy.
The president of the Radical Left Party (PRG), Guillaume Lacroix, opts for the line of flight. He announced on Monday that his party was putting “withdrawn” of the candidacy of Christiane Taubira, which stagnates around 3% in the polls.
“My political party has gone all the way”he said at a press conference in Paris, at the party’s headquarters. “There is no break, no rupture” with the candidacy of Christiane Taubira, he added, indicating that, according to him, “the very clear mandate, from the beginning”, was from“supporting a dynamic of rallying on the left” and no “specifically support” the candidacy of the former Keeper of the Seals.
“From now on, PRG elected officials are free to support whoever they want”, he further clarified. Personally, the regional councilor of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region will support the former Minister of Justice, he said on Monday. Of the 282 elected members of the party authorized to nominate a candidate, only 170 have, for the time being, confirmed their promises of signatures. Reluctance that suggested that the PRG could gently break away from its former favorite candidate.
“Freedom of choice”
In a letter sent to activists, party boss Guillaume Lacroix indicates that “Sponsorships of elected officials fall under the freedom of choice of the latter”. And adds: “The mandate of the PRG was based on a process of rallying the left, which it should be noted today that it is no longer possible.”
A way of saying that the candidacy of the former minister of François Hollande is futile? Not officially. Still, the president of the PRG repeated this Monday “regret with anger and bitterness” dead end on the left, “in a dramatic political moment for the country”. And evoked, creaking, “morbid passions wanting to count sponsorships rather than voters”.
Since his declaration of candidacy, in a video message posted on social networks in mid-December, Guillaume Lacroix was one of the main supporters of Christiane Taubira. With the former socialist deputy Christian Paul, he made up his close guard. He “recognize” now that he’s coming back “it’s up to the candidate to carry the fight differently, by the youth, by the citizens”.
Update : addition at 5:22 p.m. of statements by Guillaume Lacroix.