PRIMARY POPULAR. Twelve activists start a hunger strike to convince Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon to join the popular primary. The ballot aims to create a union of the left behind a single project.
[Mis à jour le 7 janvier à 16h44] How to convince left-wing presidential candidates to participate in the popular primary? For twelve activists including Nouvelle Donne MEP Paul Larrouturou, starting a hunger strike can be a means of pressure to force Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the two politicians resistant to the ballot. The small group begins this strike this Friday, January 7, as announced in a press release published the day before in which they set out their motivation: “Only the left-wing and ecological candidates are aware of the climate emergency and bring solutions to the height of the stakes. But their divisions make any victory impossible “.
The polls prove the MEP right, three months before the first round of the election, the left is more divided than ever. According to the polls, if they are divided, no candidate of the left is able to collect more than 10% of the vote. Among them, Anne Hidalgo and Christiane Taubira, who “plans” to become a candidate, say they are in favor or even support the popular vote, while the ecologist Yannick Jadot and the rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon are firmly against it. And they are the ones that the activists want to convince. Their fight promises to be difficult since only a few hours after the start of the strike, Yannick Jadot declared on behalf of the Europe-Ecology-The Greens party: “What we want is to win the presidential election. first round, hear that environmentalists are going to run this presidential campaign, hear that in 2022, faced with the climate and social emergency, ecology is needed to win. ” However, at the microphone of Franceinfo, Paul Larroututou cites as an example the participation of Xavier Bertrand in the primary of the right or, closer to the left, that of Yannick Jadot in the environmentalist primary. “[Il] had said in May that he would never go to the environmentalist primary, he went and he won “recalls the activist.
While some comments encourage the two politicians to enter the primary, others have a more pungent tone. “If they think they are going to win the presidential election, they should not be afraid to enter a primary that they can win,” said the MEP. “The environmental candidate is however more often taken to task by Paul Larrouturou who specifies that supporters of EELV line up behind him and the idea of a popular primary: “There are more than 1,000 EELV activists who have made a petition to ask Yannick Jadot to enter the popular primary, otherwise there is no chance that he will win. “A spike that also sounds like a final call to offer chances of victory to the left in the mouth of the militant.” The current divisions are in the process of breaking down discourage a large number of voters but if the rally takes place before mid-February, it is still possible to save the climate and social justice “, continued the MEP, far from lacking in argument” he concluded.
What is the popular primary?
The authorship of a primary for a single candidate on the left does not fall to Anne Hidalgo and her stillborn proposal of “primary of the left” formulated in early December. In February 2021, the popular primary was launched with the objective of defining a “common base of ten measures of rupture with 13 political parties and inspired by the demands of social movements in recent years”. The measures are then divided into three themes: an ecological republic, a social republic and a democratic republic.
Since the emergence of the project, 300,000 people have joined the initiative of a popular primary, names of personalities likely to carry such a program have been proposed, with or without their validation. A sponsorship system was then put in place until October 11, when 10 personalities (5 men and 5 women) were appointed after having received the most sponsorships.
They then had until the end of November to say whether or not they wanted to participate in the primary. “They were not numerous enough to engage in the process. We therefore, with validation of our signatories by a massive consultation, chose to continue the project in the form of a citizen investiture, with or without the agreement of the candidates ”, specifies the organization. The third step will consist in the designation of a personality among those officially declared candidates for the popular primary on January 15, 2022.
Who are the candidates for the popular primary?
The sponsorship system of the popular primary has therefore made it possible to define ten personalities able, according to the voters, to carry the common base defined in the presidential election. Several prominent politicians were named, while other lesser-known actors were also included in the list of personalities to vote for (without them necessarily being candidates). They are Clémentine Autain, Gaël Giraud, Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot, Pierre Larrouturou, Charlotte Marchandise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Anna-Agueb Poterie, François Ruffin and Christiane Taubira.
When will the popular primary take place?
However, to see his name appear during the vote, he must have formalized his candidacy by January 15. Voting will then take place online from January 27-30, with a 100% online single-round ballot. Participation is free.
Who participates in the popular primary?
Anyone can participate in the popular primary. Just register on the site. Three prerequisites: be 16 years old, be French and “recognize yourself in the spirit of the common base”.