Oliver Faure re-elected but his victory disputed

Olivier Faure was re-elected at the head of the PS but his victory is still disputed by Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, this January 23. The mayor of Rouen assures that the verification of the results of the ballot was not carried out.

[Mis à jour le 23 janvier 2023 à 8h20] In the Socialist Party, the two contenders to take the lead of the political formation persist and sign. Olivier Faure, officially re-elected with barely 500 votes in advance, reaffirmed his victory on January 22, three days after the ballot, while Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol denounced fraud and “self-proclamation”. The seizure of the commission for the proofing of the votes did not make it possible to bring down the tensions which the PS would however have done without.

“The result is indisputable, I won the vote at 51%, I have no doubt about it”, declared Olivier Faure again this Monday, January 23 on France info, decided to remain the boss of the rose party. However, this mandate promises to be eventful because if he won narrowly at the polls, he must deal with a majority that is not in favor of the Nupes alliance. Above all, the opposing camp does not seem to want to remain silent and points the finger at the direction of the PS. “I have decided not to be silent about practices that are fraudulent and that have been going on at the PS for too long. […] All of this is absolutely unacceptable and totally undemocratic. I do not accept it”, attacked in the same media the mayor of Rouen, defeated in the polls. If Olivier Faure, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol and Hélène Geoffroy must meet on January 23, the rival of the boss of the party n Do not rule out resorting to “legal means” to verify the result of the vote which must be ratified during the Congress of the PS, organized in Marseilles from January 27 to 29.

The election of the first secretary of the PS who was to give a new impetus to the traditional left has rather plunged the party into crisis. The vote recount operation did not calm the situation, on the contrary it made matters worse. Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol believes that the verification of the sincerity of the ballot by the verification commission could not complete its work: “The work of this commission was blocked when only 45 of the hundred departmental federations had been validated. It is absolutely unacceptable.” For his part Olivier Faure assured that the commission proceeded to the recount of the votes in all the ballots subject to dispute. During the polls, several “irregularities” were observed and denounced by both sides.

Who were the candidates to lead the PS?

Olivier Faure won against his two rivals but not without difficulty. After the elimination of Hélène Geoffroy in the first round on January 12, it was the mayor of Rouen Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol who bowed to the outgoing candidate. But Olivier Faure’s victory came down to a very short lead and is not yet recognized by everyone. If his victory is confirmed, the first secretary will have to deal with a majority that is not entirely convinced by the Nupes alliance.

• Olivier Faure : first secretary of the Socialist Party since 2018, the 54-year-old joined the ranks of the PS when he was 16 and gradually rose through the ranks. He has been a deputy for Seine-et-Marne and a member of the party’s leadership since July 2012. If since his election as head of the PS, Olivier Faure has been unanimous, in 2022, the political leader has divided the left by accepting to join forces with La France insoumise (LFI) to form the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) in view of the legislative elections. The first secretary of the PS has since been accused of “subordination” by party executives, who denounce a “surrender” and an erasure of the PS behind the too radical speech of LFI. However, the boss of the Socialists argues that this alliance was the only way for the PS to maintain weight in the National Assembly.
• Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol : he is the mayor of Rouen and the president of the Métropole Rouen Normandie (Seine-Maritime). This part of the PS entered politics by working with Laurent Fabius from 2008 in the urban area of ​​Rouen, and committed to the Region in turn as an adviser or president of the Region. He also served Laurent Fabius at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 2013. During the presidential election of 2022, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol took part in the campaign of Anne Hidalgo, and his candidacy for the head of the PS benefits this both the support of the mayor of Paris, but also of Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie Region and of the Regions of France association. Like the latter, the candidate does not recognize the place of the PS within Nupes. His creed? To be neither for nor against the Nupes, and to reform a “social-democratic, republican, humanist and ecological left”.

What are the results of the first and second ballot?

During the first round, the members had placed Olivier Faure in the lead with 49.15% of the votes, against 30.51% for Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, and 20.34% for Hélène Geoffroy. In a second ballot, debated because the two finalists claimed victory. It was on the morning of Friday, January 20, that PS officially announced the victory of Olivier Faure with less than 400 votes in advance, or 50.83% of the vote, against 49.17% for Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol.

Who votes to elect the leader of the PS?

As the election is decisive for the future of the PS, only party members were invited to take part in the ballot on January 12 and 19, 2023. In total, 41,000 encartes could vote at the ballot box. During the second ballot, 23,759 members took part. According to the press release from the PS “12,076 votes or 50.83% of the votes voted for Olivier Faure and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol obtained 11,683 votes or 49.17% of the votes cast”. The outcome of the vote will be announced at the Marseille Congress to be held on January 27, 28 and 29, 2023.

What are the stakes of the PS congress?

All members of the PS agree that the 2023 congress is full of challenges, and for good reason: it is the future of the party that is at stake. Several questions arise, but they can be summed up in one: should we continue on the line drawn by Olivier Faure with the alliance of the left, or get out of it and try to revive the PS from its ashes? In the camp of Olivier Faure it is hammered that the alliance of the Nupes was the only way to allow the party to exist in the National Assembly, when the elephants of the party and the executives of the previous generation howl with the erasure of the party behind the radicalism of the rebels.

Beyond the Nupes, the members of the PS wonder about the functioning of the party, which is faltering and whose lack of framework is undoubtedly not unrelated to the historically low results of the rose party in the last elections. (1.75% in the presidential election of 2022). “For five years, we have been working backwards. The deputies take positions which become those of the party”, deplores the deputy Valérie Rabault in theObsnot without blaming Olivier Faure at the head of the PS since 2018. She is not the only one to judge the man responsible for the loss of speed of the political formation and to be in favor of a renewal at the head party.

Finally, the last subject, linked to the first two, which must be addressed at the PS congress: what about the electoral strategy for the next political meetings? Impossible to answer without having taken position on the alliance of Nupes because in function, the PS will have to campaign alone or to compose with the other forces of left. But the calculation is delicate: alone, it will be necessary to work hard without being sure that the efforts bear fruit to maintain the advantage in the senatorial and municipal elections, but to several, the PS will inevitably have to bequeath to its left allies at the risk of s ‘wipe off. The culmination of the next electoral cycle being the presidential election of 2027, the PS must also prepare to present a candidate and be able to guarantee him a score worthy of the name. On this subject, some lend Olivier Faure Elysian ambitions.