Presidential: Christiane Taubira, sole candidate for disunity on the left

Christiane Taubira published an article on Wednesday in The world, in which she explains that ideological convergences on the left are sufficient, she says, to govern together for five years. The political editorialist Rémi Godeau delivers his analysis of this text, a few months before the presidential election.

“Well yes, on the left, during the truce, the beam continues to work. In mid-December, Christiane Taubira said she was considering running for the presidential election. In a short video, however, she assured that she did not want to be another candidate. Because yes, there are already 7. Its objective is therefore to provoke a primary to re-weld a left block scattered like a puzzle, and therefore ensure not to appear in the second round.

On Wednesday, the former Minister of Justice, who promised to reveal his intentions before January 15, therefore recalled our fond memories with a long text heavy with lyricism and convoluted formulas. We can see in it a somewhat laborious demonstration that no, really, lefts are not irreconcilable. We can also see a new plea for a primary relaunched by Anne Hidalgo, but the rebellious Mélenchon, the ecologist Jadot and the communist Roussel stubbornly refuse. We can finally see a draft program, that is to say an additional step by Christiane Taubira towards her own candidacy.

A common base is possible

This initiative is indeed as clear as the style of the former minister of François Hollande. Through many generalities, despite everything, there is an intention, an invitation and a solution. The intention is to dismantle the main argument of the other heralds of the left, unfavorable to the primary. Between them, the differences would be too deep to result in a single candidacy. However, Christiane Taubira says the opposite. There are very strong convergences, strong enough to allow them to govern together for five years on school, health, ecology, the Republic, social justice, salaries or secularism.

The Socialist is convinced that a common base, at least, is possible. In frenzy of the compromise, she even found a PPCM, the lowest common denominator, in the form of a banner: the reestablishment of the ISF. It is even the only concrete measure that it sets out in its text. And that’s good, on the left, all the candidates propose it on the other topics. It is even fuzzy enough not to offend anyone, as those around him decipher. Its program is anything but padlocked.

Create a dynamic on convergences

As for the invitation, it is a little saltier because it consists in asking everyone to put aside their disagreements, which Christiane Taubira herself describes as insurmountable. For example, on the relationship with Russia, mentioned under the cryptic periphrase ‘nature of bilateral diplomatic relations’ or on what she calls energy sources, not to say nuclear, or even on what the icon socialist names relations with the European Union – she probably means treaties. Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Yannick Jadot say ‘differences first, therefore, no single candidacy’. Christiane Taubira retorts ‘a single candidate, therefore convergences first’.

The solution is therefore to create a dynamic on the convergences and deal with the divergences later. And for that, Christiane Taubira says to rely on democratic instruments. I quote ‘collective deliberation, under legislative procedure or in citizen form, must be rehabilitated’. We can understand that she defends the referendum or the citizens’ convention to smooth out the differences on the left. We win first and we take care of the program. This is clever because the outsider Taubira will be able to present himself as a unifier within a left which, she herself recognizes with lucidity, has no competitor to invent insurmountable quarrels. Clever, but with a near zero chance of success. The voters are gone and on the left, egos and resentments are too strong to hope for a reconciliation of ideas. The collective red, pink, green fate will wait. “