Who will win? The outgoing First Secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure, and the mayor of Rouen Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol clash Thursday to take the head of the PS, a duel with an uncertain outcome, in a tense atmosphere. The result could have consequences for the agreement reached in May 2022 for the legislative elections with insubordinate France, Europe Ecologie – the Greens and the French Communist Party.
Olivier Faure defends his left-wing alliance strategy
This alliance made it possible to keep a group of 32 socialist deputies in the National Assembly, despite the historic failure in the presidential election of candidate Anne Hidalgo (1.7%), but deeply divided the PS, leading to departures and legislative dissent.
Olivier Faure defends his strategy of a left-wing alliance “without exclusivity”, the only way according to him to block the right and the far right in 2027, while Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, more reserved on this agreement which he judges “loser”, does not hide his reluctance vis-à-vis the party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and has won the support of the third candidate, the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin Hélène Geoffroy, clearly hostile to Nupes.
The expected results overnight
The 41,000 socialist members must decide between the two men, between 5 and 10 p.m., in the sections of the party, before a Congress at the end of January in Marseille. The results are expected overnight, or even Friday morning. Difficult to determine the extent of the vote, in the middle of a day of mobilization against the pension reform – to which the PS calls – and even less to anticipate the scores, the two candidates being convinced of winning.
A battle of figures is to be expected, as during the vote of the militants on the text of orientation last Thursday, intended to determine the balance of power in the authorities of the party. Only 22,944 members then expressed themselves, placing Olivier Faure in the lead with 49.1% of the votes, against 30.51% for Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, and 20.34% for Hélène Geoffroy.
The mayor of Rouen “does not plan not to win”, saying that there was “a basic trend” around his candidacy and an “expectation of renewal” on the part of activists.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol denies any “secret agreement” with the anti-Nupes
Supported by the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, the president of Occitanie Carole Delga and the ex-president François Hollande, he prides himself on having put the outgoing management “in the minority”, and claims to be the only one able to bring together, on a “central way”. The elected Norman repeats that he wants another union of the left where the PS is “allied but not aligned”, but the deputy Jérôme Guedj, close to Olivier Faure, protests: “this is what we embodied from the beginning in the Assembly, we have always said that we had a singularity to preserve. “With the Nupes, the PS is rehabilitated on the left, it is no longer the left of accommodation”, insists- he.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol is counting on winning over a mobilization of abstainers, over a reversal of certain Faure voters who, according to him, would have voted by default, and over the postponements of Hélène Geoffroy’s voters. He denies any “secret agreement” between him and the anti-Nupes, while the opposing camp denounces “an alliance of carp and rabbit” between two different strategic lines.
For Olivier Faure, the results of the first vote prove that only 20% of members voted against Nupes, confirming his line. “Are the 80% of members who voted against the rollback going to vote Thursday for the return of the elephants?”, who are largely behind Hélène Geoffroy, he asked.
His entourage stresses that despite his 49.15% in the first vote, he has “an absolute majority in the National Council” (a sort of training parliament, editor’s note), thanks to the support of at least 60 first federal secretaries. , which count for one third in the composition of the Board. This is a projection, the vote of the first federals will not take place until February. “There is not an election where we are at 49.15% and where we lose in the end”, wants to believe a relative.