On the left, nobody wants it, except Christiane Taubira.
Jadot, Mélenchon, Hidalgo... Almost all the presidential candidates on this side of the political spectrum have said "no" to the Popular Primary, a militant initiative that tries to bring about a single candidacy, a common front for social justice and ecology and against the right and the extreme right.
And yet, the ballot will take place.
From this Thursday and until January 30, 2022, the 467,000 registered in this citizen consultation will try to assert their preferences despite everything.
If the number of potential voters consecrates the work of the two creators of the popular Primary, Mathilde Imer and Samuel Grzybowski, the outcome is nonetheless uncertain.
Overview.
470,000 subscribers
The massive wave of registrations recorded in the end by the popular Primary makes this ballot "the largest process of deciding between candidates in France", according to its creator Mathilde Imer.
This is better than the Republican primary and the environmentalist primary, 262,000 voters in total, 140,000 and 122,000 respectively for each of the initiatives.
However, in 2017, the left brought together two million people to appoint a single candidate.
The right and the center, 4.4 million.
The left-wing candidates camp on their positions, referring this figure to an insignificant indicator.
According to their statements, they will not participate and will not comply with the result.
Even Hidalgo, who once defended the initiative.
Only Taubira will.
Read alsoPopular primary: nearly 470,000 registered but left-wing candidates still not converted
Seven candidates
Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Christiane Taubira but also the almost unknown Anna Agueb-Porterie, Pierre Larrouturou, Charlotte Marchandise... Seven personalities were pre-selected at the end of a previous phase mobilizing "130,000 voters" , without those concerned having a say.
The vote will take place online, by majority judgment, a voting method that contrasts with the electoral tradition of the primaries.
Instead of designating their favorite, voters will have to give a mention to each of the candidates: Very good, Good, Fairly good, Fair or Insufficient.
The accumulation decides.
To receive the investiture and the militant support of the Popular Primary, the winner must commit to "include, at a minimum, the spirit of the Common Base (a programmatic base prepared last year, editor's note) in his program" and to "promote unity" with the other candidates".
Otherwise, the primary will not support anyone.
Read alsoPresidential: between disappointment and doubt, they will still vote in the popular Primary
A vote to “change the rules of the game”
What is behind this initiative?
Mathilde Imer and Samuel Grzybowski, both 29 years old.
The first was a member of the governance committee of the Citizen's Climate Convention and an environmental activist.
The second is a social entrepreneur, former member of the association Coexister, a movement promoting interreligious dialogue.
Together, they want to "change the rules of the game" of politics.
Not without being widely criticized: after the publication of a video of Grzybowski calling on elected officials to suspend their sponsorships until the union is made, the popular vote is accused of being a subterfuge to propel the candidacy by Christiane Taubira.
“We are under attack.
This is perhaps the last step before victory, ”retorts Mathilde Imer, sweeping away these accusations.
Read also “Politician politics does not suit us”: who are the two founders of the Popular Primary?
Ignored, despised for its confidential nature, then attacked when it brought together many voters from the left, the ballot slowly emerged, pitfalls after pitfalls.
If only Christiane Taubira agrees to comply with the result, what's the point?
Failing to create a union, the initiative will have at least put this question in the foreground… for a while.
