A slap during the presidential election, followed by a fracture in the legislative elections ? After its candidate Anne Hidalgo gathered 1.74% of the votes cast in the race for the Elysée, the Socialist Party is now divided on the strategy to adopt for the legislative elections and the survival of its parliamentary group in the National Assembly. Wednesday, May 4, despite an internal revolt, the PS announced that it had finally reached an agreement with La France insoumise, on the program and the constituencies. The text must still be submitted for the internal approval of the Socialists on Thursday 5 may.
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Will the party end up joining the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) ? At the cost of how many divisions ? Tale of two pungent weeks in roses.
1The PS votes to open negotiations with LFI
It all starts with a major turning point, from the in-between rounds of the presidential : the National Council of the Socialist Party adopts, on 19 April, a resolution proposing to discuss with all the forces of the left, including La France insoumise, to find an agreement in the legislative elections. A position approved by a small majority by 160 members of the internal parliament, against 75 votes against, 10 abstentions and 58 absent. “We have never believed in irreconcilable lefts, however we must not hide our differences which are sometimes deep”underlines this text, in a logic of balance.
2A minority current denounces a “submission”
On April 26, on the eve of the opening of discussions with the “rebellious”, the current Debout the socialists calls into question the negotiating mandate granted to the First secretary, Olivier Faure. In favor of agreements at local level only and of a “government contract with EELV, the PCF and the PRG”this group alerts the party leadership to a “submission” to the LFI program and a risk of “surrender”. “You must submit your electoral strategy to the vote of all our members”claims to Olivier Faure the leader of this minority current, Hélène Geoffroy, who had been largely beaten in 2021 during the party congress.
3Opponents of an agreement invited to “leave”
On the evening of April 26, Olivier Faure was heckled in the national office by members of the minority movement. “If you think that the PS is dead, that there is nothing more to do, that you no longer belong to the left, then leave, join La République en Marche, replies the First Secretary of the PS, according to reported comments. Otherwise stay and fight with us. It will change us.” “A coalition is not a submission and everyone will retain their identity”he tries to reassure the next day, in an interview with Figaro.
4François Hollande calls for a reversal
In unison with other “dinosaurs” of the party, the ex-president warns, Thursday 28 April, against the risk of“a disappearance” of the PS in case of agreement with LFI. Fearing the unprecedented absence of socialist candidates “in two thirds or three quarters of the departments”he judges such a perspective “unacceptable”. He also opposes the programmatic conditions of the “rebellious” on the EU, NATO or retirement at 60 years, reform that he judges “financially impossible”. He takes the opportunity to tackle Olivier Faure : “The first duty of a political leader who leads a party is to first gather his own before thinking of gathering with others.”
Six days later, on May 4, Emmanuel Macron’s predecessor denounced the agreement between LFI and the PS, in an interview with the regional daily The mountain : “I reject the agreement on the merits and even on the constituencies. But this is a question which must be decided by the national council of the PS.”
5The PS acts on “convergences” with LFI and delays
Despite the criticisms, the socialist delegation participates in talks at the HQ of the “rebellious”. On April 29, the party leadership reported first “convergences” with its interlocutors, in particular on the increase in the Smic to 1,400 euros net, the freezing of the prices of basic necessities, retirement at 60 or the repeal of the unemployment insurance reform carried out by the former Socialist Minister of Labor, Myriam El Khomri. The PS also says it is ready to “breaking certain rules” of the EU, on the condition of not making disobedience a principle and not “to endanger the construction of Europe”.
In the aftermath, the party announces the suspension of negotiations and urges LFI to accept compromises. “We must break with all hegemonic logic and accept plurality, demand the socialists. At this stage, we have no guarantee.” On the “rebellious” side, this break is rather perceived as a “need to return to their base”.
6The “barons” initiate a “resistance”
During the weekend of May 1, the former socialist leader Julien Dray, close to François Hollande, denounces in a tweet the “political capitulation” by Olivier Faure. “Activists and socialist activists, the hour of disobedience is an imperative”he says.
Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, former First Secretary and supporter of the party’s social-democratic line, drives the point home. In open letterhe calls for the launch of a “coordination of the no to integration in the People’s Union” by Jean-Luc Melenchon. Two watchwords: “resist and recombine”. “Let’s talk, friends”he says, naming François Hollande, Bernard Cazeneuve, Jean-Marc Ayrault, Martine Aubry, Anne Hidalgo, Carole Delga or even Hélène Geoffroy.
7The PS undertakes to “submit the agreement to debate”
Tuesday May 3, the day after the resumption of discussions with LFI, the head of the socialist negotiators claims to be “a few steps from a historic agreement”. In the final text, “Socialists will be respected”assures Pierre Jouvet. “Of course we will submit the agreement to the debate” in the national office, adds the mayor of Saint-Vallier (Drôme), while the minority current continues to demand “a consultation of the members [et non du seul bureau national] before any ratification of a possible agreement”. On franceinfo, the representative of Debout the socialists, Hélène Geoffroy, claims the signature of “nearly 1,500” activists in a petition to this effect.
8Bernard Cazeneuve threatens to leave the party
Also on May 3, former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve joined the revolt of the party’s tenors. He announces that he will leave the PS in the event of an agreement with La France insoumise. “Because I am faithful to republican socialism and will remain so, I will not be able, in conscience and in responsibility, to remain in the party whose leaders will have forgotten what founds it and lost their compass”, he wrote on Facebook. Deploring the launch of negotiations with LFI “without consultation of the members”he said he was in favor of the possible creation of a dissident party to “rebuild” a “pillar of alternation” left-wing politics.
9Stéphane Le Foll wants to “campaign” with dissidents in the legislative elections
Wednesday morning, the PS and LFI announce a “agreement in principle”on which the Socialist delegation promises a vote in “National council”. At the same time, former Minister Stéphane Le Foll calls for “to make a campaign” for all PS candidates, including dissidents not dubbed by the Nupes who will present themselves “still because they won’t accept the deal”. The mayor of Le Mans also says he is ready to leave the party and contribute to “rebuild” his political family.
10Bernard Cazeneuve leaves the PS
In the aftermath of the threats, the former Prime Minister of François Hollande announces, on May 4, to slam the door of the PS. “I left the Socialist Party in disagreement with the alliance made with the party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon”he declares to the regional daily La Manche libre (article reserved for subscribers). He castigates “the violence, the excess of positions, the insults also when[‘il] prop[t] to the government” from La France insoumise, “especially when the tragedy of the death of Rémi Fraisse occurred”.
He also highlights his differences on secularism and the European Union: “I also have a clear and firm conception of secularism, of the Republic, which prohibits any convergence with those whose thinking on these issues is more than ambiguous. And then there is this old hostility of LFI to the European project to which I can’t make up my mind.”
For his part, another Prime Minister of François Hollande, Jean-Marc Ayrault, evokes a “tinkering”. “I am deeply disappointed by the text which has just been made public. I regret to tell you that I disagree”he told AFP, denouncing the “exorbitant price” paid according to him by the PS, which would be “absent in 500 constituencies out of 577”. “At the same time, I am well aware that with 1.7% of the votes in the presidential election, that does not put the Socialist Party in a comfortable situation”he acknowledges.