“If there is a possibility that cohabitation could make it possible to carry out reforms, then we must go all the way,” insists Hélène Geoffroy.
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![Hélène Geoffroy, president of the National Council of the Socialist Party, in Ivry-sur-Seine, January 23, 2023. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/pictures/EkH_IWxypgiR0BNTZR6O5BFVKB4/0x440:7848x4852/432x243/2024/08/28/helene-g-66cebca6d8176274004804.jpg)
“We do not give ourselves the means to govern”says Wednesday August 28 on franceinfo Hélène Geoffroy, president of the National Council of the Socialist Party and mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin in the Rhône. She asked, during the national office held on Tuesday August 27, the First Secretary, Olivier Faure, to “clarify the strategy” of the party.
She criticizes the First Secretary for his proximity to the line of France Insoumise which threatens Emmanuel Macron to initiate impeachment proceedings or the calls for demonstrations by several left-wing executives. She sees this as “the conditions of disorder and chaos”. “I am the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, I know the price of riots”she assures.
“I asked for clarification, because in the state the country is in, it is not about seeking an early presidential election, but about being able to govern the country and pass left-wing reforms because we came out on top in the elections.”defends Hélène Geoffroy, “and it seems to me that we are not giving ourselves the means to govern”.
According to her, it is necessary to continue to go and meet Emmanuel Macron, who launched a new phase of consultations at the Élysée Palace on Tuesday, August 27, to find a Prime Minister. The invitation was declined by Olivier Faure after the head of state refused to appoint the NFP candidate, Lucie Castets. “If there is a possibility that cohabitation will allow reforms to be carried out, then we must go all the way”insists Hélène Geoffroy.
“We must reach out to the parties of the former majority, particularly to find compromises on texts in Parliament”but “I saw correspondence between the different political parties, and I did not see the beginnings of a positive meeting”she tackles. “We need working meetings, not posturing”says the socialist, who absolutely wants to go “until the end” to carry out left-wing reforms “because the alternative is the protest of the French people who will be angry with us, I am convinced, to the point that next time, it will be a National Rally assembly that will come to power”.
The president of the National Council of the PS has asked that the activists be the judges of the peace in the party, with “a vote of the activists” online, to define the line, between that of Raphaël Glucksmann, “a clear program that unites the PS”according to the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, and “a Jean-Luc Mélenchon line”.
She clarifies that she wants cohabitation and not a coalition, that is to say a Prime Minister of a particular tendency. “socialist, social democrat”to lead “the reforms to which the left is attached on purchasing power, health and public services”. “We are telling the voters who chose us frankly that another path is possible than that of protest, of demonstration, and that the left which governs and manages and changes life still exists and that is important.”she concluded.