David Desgouilles is a columnist for Marianne. He has published
Dérapage
(ed.
Du
Rocher, 2017) and
Their Lost Wars
, (ed. Du Rocher, 2019).
FIGAROVOX. - Yannick Jadot and Sandrine Rousseau qualified yesterday for the second round of the Greens primary. What are the major differences between them? Should we see in this duel two radically different visions of ecology?
David DESGOUILLES. -
It is above all a big difference of postures and personalities.
Yannick Jadot led a campaign for the European elections two years ago which succeeded in seducing an electorate who had voted for Emmanuel Macron in 2017. He also took part in the police demonstration last spring, probably to register in a culture of government.
Sandrine Rousseau, on the other hand, has assumed her “ecofeminist” radicalism, and is no stranger to
woke
culture
.
Did anti-EELV elements come together to influence the result in favor of Sandrine Rousseau, considered the most caricatured?
The question arises for every organization of an “open” primary.
David Desgouilles
Sandrine Rousseau's score surprises many observers. Can we see a structural consequence of the primaries which tend to put forward the most radical candidates to the detriment of the moderates?
This is due to the phenomenon that you rightly describe but amplified by the tradition of environmentalists.
Remember the appointment of Alain Lipietz in 2001, who was finally disconnected during the campaign for the benefit of the one he had yet beaten, Noël Mamère.
Let us also remember Eva Joly appointed at the expense of Nicolas Hulot.
And finally when Yannick Jadot was chosen in 2016, EELV, at the last moment, decided not to present a candidate.
To read also "The Greens should stop presenting themselves under the banner of the environment and assume that of puritanism"
Was the vote influenced by voters outside EELV?
This voting method was wanted to go beyond the EELV members who are only a large tens of thousands.
He intended to address as many sympathizers as possible.
Did anti-EELV elements come together to influence the result in favor of Sandrine Rousseau, considered the most caricatured?
This is indeed a question that has arisen for several days, and in particular following the appeal of Damien Rieu, RN candidate in the last departmental elections and important influencer on social networks.
The question arises for every organization of an “open” primary. Each time, it is impossible to quantify these votes. If we trust the 2016 right-wing primary where left-wing voters were suspected of coming to vote for Alain Juppé (but for the sake of proximity and not out of cynicism), it seems that this would be a fairly high proportion. weak, since Alain Juppé achieved a first round score in line with what was expected but the surprise came from François Fillon, pushed by the mobilization of the most conservative part of the right-wing electorate. But the reminder of this precedent does not claim to have scientific value.
Anne Hidalgo must fear the candidacy of Yannick Jadot and prefer the victory of Sandrine Rousseau which would open up more space to her.
On the contrary, Jean-Luc Mélenchon must wish the victory of Jadot, which would offer him the most radical elements of the ecological electorate.
David Desgouilles
What consequences could these primaries have on the other parties of the left? If Jadot wins, can we expect a PS-EELV alliance? Conversely, could a victory for Sandrine Rousseau benefit rebellious France?
It seems to me that it is just the opposite. Anne Hidalgo must fear the candidacy of Yannick Jadot and prefer the victory of Sandrine Rousseau which would open up more space to her. On the contrary, Jean-Luc Mélenchon must wish Jadot's victory, which would offer him the most radical elements of the environmentalist electorate who voted for Sandrine Rousseau and Eric Piolle. In the presidential election, we are less in alliance strategies than in the embodiment and the ability to create a political space and then expand it to the maximum.
