New obstacle on the horizon for the PS.
A month after the Congress of Marseilles, which made it possible to reconcile - at least on paper - the socialist family, the formation of Olivier Faure risks being shaken again in the coming weeks.
The detonator: a partial legislative election in the 1st district of Ariège, scheduled for March 26 and April 2.
Bénédicte Taurine, the outgoing Insoumise MP, will defend her seat there, with the displayed support of the Nupes coalition.
And therefore that, official, of the staff of the Socialist Party.
A dissident supported by Delga
But it is an understatement to say that this choice is not to everyone's taste at the PS.
In Ariège, Occitan land, the Socialists are very upset against the Nupes agreement.
As last June, the activists of the departmental federation have therefore decided to support the dissident candidate, Martine Froger, against Bénédicte Taurine.
It doesn't matter if their champion had already been eliminated in the first round (18.04%) last spring, and has since been suspended from the party for dissent.
As a result, Carole Delga, the influential PS president of the Occitanie region, has also chosen to lend a hand to Martine Froger.
Not enough to warm up his relationship with the first secretary Olivier Faure.
Similarly, Michaël Delafosse, the mayor of Montpellier, opposed to the management, logically shares this position too.
“In Ariège, there is no risk of the far right.
The left must assert itself in fidelity to its history, in respect for democratic values”
, judged the Hérault councilor on Tuesday morning on Public Senate.
Divisions in leadership
More problematic: the division invites itself to the heart of the PS leadership.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, Congress finalist and now "first deputy secretary", has indicated that he will support Martine Froger.
“There is a socialist candidate and there is very little risk from the right and far right, so I support her,”
he announced on Radio J on Sunday, adding:
“I am a socialist, I support the socialists”
.
At the Marseille congress, Olivier Faure however indicated to the press that his number two, “NMR”, had
“assured”
him that he would support, on behalf of Nupes, the candidate LFI.
“On what basis did Olivier Faure undertake to support the Insoumise Bénédicte Taurine? This decision has never been validated by the National Council”
, retorts a close friend of the mayor of Rouen.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol's supporters warn against constituencies frozen by the Nupes agreement.
“Otherwise, we will be condemned to have
ad vitam aeternam
thirty constituencies for the Socialist Party”
, underlines one of them.
Among the "nightingales", we recall in particular the "
Lamia El Aaraje case law"
.
Last June, this outgoing PS deputy had received the official support of the Socialist Party despite the Nupes candidacy of the Insoumise Danielle Simonnet.
The latter won against the socialist in the second round (58.45% against 41.55%).
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