This weekend in Montpellier, the anti-Mélenchon left met. A handful of socialists who are still looking for a solution outside the New People’s Ecological and Social Union. Jean-Rémi Baudot’s political brief.
There was on stage, in Montpellier, all that the PS has dissidents, all those who still refuse the strategy carried by the boss of the Socialists, Olivier Faure. United within Refondations, this anti-Mélenchon left would like to offer an alternative to Nupes.
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After several months of internal battles at the PS, after a particularly tense Congress in Marseilles, these socialist rebels still hope to weigh against the current leadership of the PS. Refoundations, it is the current of the mayor of Rouen, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. Little known to the general public, he is now number 2 of the PS and wants to be on the front line against Nupes.
Except that obviously, he is not the only one who wants to embody the renewal of this social democracy, this left which would like to see the disappointed return of macronism: heavyweights have displayed themselves in Montpellier, like Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie region… Former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was not present, but he spoke on video.
Try to weigh against the Nupes
Socialist figures who have in common to fight the pro-Nupes line of the PS, but who each nourish their own national ambitions. Suffice to say that the rivalries between anti-Nupes socialists were not settled this weekend in Montpellier. Moreover, Refondations showed the muscles. This great rout was a first step to mark the occasion, but nothing concrete came out of it.
At the podium, the slogans flourished, so much so that we could probably make pretty bouquets (of roses, of course) with formulas like the will to “create debate“, to talk to each other “as equals with respect”of “change the balance of powerof “restore energy through work”…
The only real surprise was the presence of Benoit Hamon, whom we had not seen among the Socialists since his failure in the 2017 presidential election. Is this support for Refondations? A war prize? Not frankly. Since Friday, Benoit Hamon has been tweeting to justify himself for going to Montpellier and continues to show his support for Nupes…
The risk of a split in the PS remains possible
One question remains: can the PS exist without the Nupes? We must remember one observation, the last score of the PS alone in the presidential election is 1.7%. Even if behind the scenes, not all socialists are delighted with the Nupes, many believe that it is currently the most effective political tool on the left. Effective, but not necessarily comfortable. The PS, like the ecologists, is under pressure from France Insoumise. Again this weekend, 20 minutes, Jean-Luc Melenchon warned against the risk of an end to the Nupes alliance in the event of separate lists for European women. Not enough to appease the discussions within the PS.
Especially since internally, the tone is rising. Faced with the slingers, the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj is threatening: “Those who want to blow up the Nupes will have to bear the responsibility and will be sanctioned“. In the coming months, the soap opera of divisions in the PS will continue. The specter, often mentioned, of a split between the Socialists, remains possible.