François Hollande and Bernard Cazeneuve in Corrèze to defend the “credibility” of the dissident socialist

In the village hall of Donzenac, in Corrèze, François Hollande is comfortable, Monday, May 30. He finds elected officials he knows well, greets them and chats a little. The former President of the Republic came to attend a public meeting held in the evening by the dissident socialist candidate in the legislative elections. Indeed, the Nupes, the formation of the left united for the ballot in which the Socialist Party officially participates, has invested a candidate from La France insoumise.

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Like a fish in water, François Hollande even tries – perhaps by reflex – to sit on the middle chair, normally reserved for the candidate he has come to support. It is in Corrézien that he says he comes to defend it in his constituency against his rebellious opponent. “In this constituency, which was mine, it is the socialists who are the best established, says the former President of the Republic. There is in some constituencies a choice, which is not of opposition to this or that but of proposal and credibility.

“Come Bernard, they miss you!”launches – a bit amused – François Hollande. “Bernard”, it is Bernard Cazeneuve, his former Prime Minister, also present to support the socialist dissident. The Cherbourgeois is more withdrawn in Donzenac but also more present on the ground with dissidents. “I am wary of travelers without luggage. However, the socialists dropped off all their luggage and rushed in a sheepish and gregarious way towards the big bad wolf who threatened to eat them alive”deplores the one who left the Socialist Party after the Nupes agreement.

He is more offensive: “It’s a shame because politics is not an exercise that you conduct by bending down and walking along the walls.” In front of about sixty inhabitants, he attacks head-on La France insoumise and its candidates.

“They are women and men of apparatus, who are not rooted in any territory and will come back after being beaten because it is quite possible that a large part of them will be beaten, for reasons that have to do with the fact that no one has a vocation to trust them spontaneously.”

Bernard Cazeneuve, former Prime Minister

during a public meeting in Donzenac (Corrèze)

The two socialist heavyweights are given a standing ovation by galvanized historical activists. “It’s as if I had been given a puff of vitamins, I feel like I’ve looked ten years younger!”rejoices Guy, all smiles. “I promise you that I’m pumped up. I feel that there are people who have remained loyal to the socialist party.” Indeed, François Hollande and Bernard Cazeneuve want to rebuild the social-democratic left: “Don’t go out at the last moment”, slips the former president, in reference to the presidential election where he hesitated to run in the face of the announced fiasco of Anne Hidalgo. He is already looking towards 2027.