In Marseille, Ségolène Royal rings the charge against Emmanuel Macron

"I am here and I stay there. It is not a question of envy but of responsibility. If I am in the best position to embody a third way ( Editor's note: between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen ), I am ready. When Ségolène Royal started forward for the presidential election of 2022, she did not pretend. During the whole day of this Thursday, the ears of the tenant of the Elysée had to whistle.

A few days after having launched his movement "Desires of France, future of the planet", the former presidential candidate, beaten in 2007 by Nicolas Sarkozy, tumbled into the municipal campaign in Marseille. She came to support Senator Samia Ghali who, like her, went on leave from the Socialist Party.

"I support Samia because she is going to be elected mayor," says Royal with false candor. And too bad if the incandescent elected from the northern districts seems today very far from being able to succeed Jean-Claude Gaudin. By putting his grain of salt in the big Marseillaise bouillabaisse, the former Minister of Ecology is sure that we will make a big dish up to Paris. And since Samia Ghali has also decided to ride the horse of ecology, she willingly accompanies him on some emblematic projects.

Arrival in an overpowered Audi 4x4 diesel

Direction the recycling center of Septèmes-les-Vallons, above the northern districts of Marseille. A huge landfill operated by Veolia which, according to local environmental associations, should have closed in 2016 but obtained an extension. Consequently, the volume of refuse treated must drop from 150,000 tonnes to… 350,000 tonnes. "We also recovered all the waste from the Alpes-Maritimes," complains Daniel Péri, the president of one of the residents' associations, who can no longer see the norias of trucks passing by.

"All waste is a resource in a circular economy", decrees the former Minister of Ecology after having made a small tour on the site in company of Ghali. But without photographers, left at the door by Véolia. The images of Ségolène Royal in the middle of a rubbish field would have the worst effect.

They leave by car at the other end of the Marseille city where residents are mobilizing against a project supported by the Metropolis led by Martine Vassal, the favorite LR for the town hall. It is a question of building an urban boulevard which would pass along one of the rare green lungs of the city to connect the ring road to… the beach of Pointe Rouge.

In the presence of Greenpeace activists who brandish "Diesel or health, make your choice" and "car or climate, what are you driving for? ", Ségolène Royal denounces a" car vacuum cleaner ". Luckily, environmental activists did not notice his arrival in an overpowered Audi 4x4 diesel. A hiccup in his discharge, since this vehicle was chosen by the Ghali campaign team.

"The time of women has come!" "

But the real red thread of this day is the repeated attacks of the ex-ambassador of the poles ( his dismissal must be formalized this Friday ) against Emmanuel Macron. A festival! “Our social model is seriously affected. Let the people who work in education or health care be left alone and give them the means to work, ”she asserts.

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Swiping a majority sneer at critics of his absenteeism at meetings of the Arctic Committee ( "They have nothing but to blame me for!" ) Royal resolutely set course for 2022. With the firm intention of barring the road to Macron's re-election. She is sure of it: she has never had "so many cards in hand", she says, citing her "just order", the priority for ecology and the needs of participatory democracy.

"The time for women has come," she adds. But thinking of Marine Le Pen, she catches up: "We must not leave a single woman in the race. "