The French Socialists are set to elect their First Secretary on 12 and 19 January, with the differences between the three candidates for party leader focusing more on how to deal with the recently formed broad left-wing coalition than on fundamental issues.
This is a symbolically loaded congress for the Socialist Party (PS), which received a new lease of life when some thirty MPs got elected in last June’s national parliamentary vote, following two stinging defeats in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections (6.3% and 1.7%).
The NUPES and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, dividing lines
This congress is the first to be held since the legislative elections and the electoral agreement that led to the creation of the left-wing coalition NUPES in mid-2022.
The candidates for the leadership of the Socialist Party are competing based on their support for or rejection of the NUPES team, particularly with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radical left party La France insoumise, LFI.
Olivier Faure, the outgoing First Secretary and re-election candidate, is strongly committed to the NUPES electoral agreement, which he believes prevented the PS from being ousted from the French National Assembly.
Hélène Geoffroy, another candidate for the party leadership, believes the agreement has negatively affected the party, blaming Faure, who has led the party since 2018, for surrendering to Mélenchon and dragging French socialism down with him.
“The PS risks disappearing through subordination if it takes its cue from LFI but also through inaction,” she said in an interview with the French magazine Le Point on Wednesday (11 January).
According to her, the party has not been clear on “the [political] line that we wanted to take” nor to lead the “cultural battles” characteristic of the left. Geoffroy said a union of the left is necessary but should be based on a “project contract” between the left-wing forces.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, the third contender, is less critical of NUPES as he also advocates a union of the left.
French parties reject proposal for united left-wing parliamentary group
The Socialist Party (PS), Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) and the French Communist Party (PCF) rejected Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s proposal to form a joint parliamentary group on Monday.
Mélenchon called on all parties in the NUPES coalition to “form a united delegation …
The opposition strategy, aligned or not behind LFI, also seems to be a source of concern for Faure’s own supporters.
In an opinion piece published in JDD magazine on Tuesday, 45 parlamentarians in both houses supporting him described his strategy of a union with LFI as a “dividing line”. They stated they were “aware of their responsibility […] because the path to union is perilous and cannot be achieved by renouncing our fundamental political guidelines”.
Among these guidelines, the 45 parlamentarians consider it useful to reiterate their support for “the construction of a Europe of solidarity”, in opposition – albeit implicitly – to the historical positions of Mélenchon and his party, which is much more Eurosceptic than the French Greens and Socialists.
Nuclear power, which LFI wants to phase out, is another area of tension as Geoffroy also refuses to align with the radical left and asserts her support for nuclear power and the need for new reactors on existing sites.
Faure proposed a referendum on nuclear power, which he considered a “transitional source of power” that does not require new investments.
Olivier Faure losing ground?
While Faure’s agenda seems to be preferred at this congress, his support base seems weaker than at a similar congress in 2021, where he beat Geoffroy with 73.6% of the vote.
While some of Faure’s supporters may be alienated by possible disagreements with the NUPES electoral alliance, Mayer-Rossignol’s candidacy may also attract some members who would have otherwise voted for Faure.
Although Faure enjoys the support of many parliamentarians, a third of the MPs elected due to the NUPES agreement failed to endorse him. Over half of the senators (38 out of 64) did not do so either, while the three MEPs affiliated with the PS opted to support him.
Lastly, Ifop’s latest political survey shows that Socialist supporters place greater trust in figures such as former President François Hollande and former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who have both been very critical of the PS’s alliance with Mélenchon’s LFI.
In spite of all this, Faure still benefits from exposure in national media that his competitors do not enjoy as they struggle to become better known outside of the party.
Whoever is elected party leader will essentially have one task: bringing the party together so that it does not die out, burying socialism in France with it.
Socialist party members will vote on Thursday afternoon and then on 19 January in the second round of the ballot to elect one of the three candidates. The final meeting of the congress will take place at the end of January in Marseille.
French left sceptical of joining forces for European elections
June’s legislative elections saw French voters deny President Emmanuel Macron a parliamentary majority, while the left and far-right have made significant gains.
But while some want the new leftist alliance that brought electoral success to last, divisions on European and international matters …
[Edited by Alice Taylor/Zoran Radosavljevic]
Source: euractiv.com
