The discussion dates back to August 2023. Gabriel Attal, then Minister of National Education, was traveling to Reunion Island. Alongside the president of the region, Huguette Bello, he gave a very complimentary portrait of the woman he said he had “known for more than ten years”. “Beyond the debates and political differences that may exist, Huguette Bello is a great republican, who has always placed the issue of our children’s education at the heart of her political commitment,” declared Gabriel Attal.
Less than a year later, this same Huguette Bello is now on the verge of becoming the official candidate of the New Popular Front to succeed Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister.
Because since Sunday, July 7 and this result that no one expected, the negotiations within the left alliance have been stalling. If the NFP repeats every day to anyone who will listen that it intends to govern, it is impossible for them to agree on a name for the post of Prime Minister. La France insoumise insists on seeing one of their own at Matignon: Clémence Guetté, Mathilde Panot, Manuel Bompard, and why not even Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
On the other side, the socialists are not giving up: Olivier Faure, the party leader, is according to them the only person capable of leading the government without being immediately censored.
Deputy for twenty-three years
Then comes at the end of this week a proposal for the name of the PCF, revealed this Friday July 12 by the newspaper HumanityThat of the president of the regional council of Réunion, Huguette Bello, who could act as a bridge between the different chapels of the New Popular Front.
Aged 73, Huguette Bello was a member of parliament for Réunion from 1997 to 2020, where she notably sat for nearly thirteen years in the ranks of the GDR group, bringing together communist and overseas elected officials. Elected mayor of Saint-Paul in 2020, the second largest city on the island, she then had to resign from her position in the National Assembly. Before taking over the regional council of Réunion a year later, in 2021, narrowly winning against the outgoing president supported by the Republicans, Didier Robert.
While Huguette Bello has built most of her political career alongside the communist camp, recent years have been more marked by a shift towards La France insoumise. She had thus officially supported Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the 2022 presidential election, and even appeared in the last, symbolic position on Manon Aubry’s list for the European elections.
Enough to make her a candidate who can satisfy the Insoumis: MP Antoine Léaument, close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, declared this Friday on BFMTV that Huguette Bello would be “a very good name” for Matignon. Same slogan for the ecologists, who hope that these negotiations for Matignon will be concluded as quickly as possible: MP Sandra Regol, questioned by Franceinfounderlines that Huguette Bello presents “three positive elements: she is a woman, she is overseas and she has experience”.
Still according to Humanityit would be in the socialist camp that this proposal pleases the least for the moment. But while the negotiations do not seem to be progressing, the hypothesis of not seeing a close friend of Jean-Luc Mélenchon run for Matignon could tip the balance. Like that of proposing the first French head of government from the overseas departments and regions.
A tougher opponent for the presidential camp?
Huguette Bello has another advantage: she has kept her distance from the partisan quarrels of recent weeks, which means that the Macronist camp could more difficultly set her up as a bogeyman. Apart from the example of Gabriel Attal, the former minister Aurore Bergé still affirmed last April on the social network X that the President of Reunion was “a fighter for human dignity and women’s rights”, as well as a parliamentarian who had “made a lasting mark on our Assembly”.
The signs may not be deceptive. While her X account had been silent for over a month, Huguette Bello posted a video on her social networks this Friday, which looked like she was submitting her candidacy for Matignon. Its title: “Victory for the New Popular Front in Reunion!” After five days of tough negotiations, the left-wing alliance may have made its choice.