Benoît Payan is a fulfilled man. From his opulent office in the Palais du Pharo, one of the most beautiful balconies in Marseille, the mayor breathes a little. “Everything was possible. Nobody could be sure of what was going to come out of this congress, he whispers to L’Express. The left had to succeed in coming together, in view of what we owe to the country, to the social movement ongoing against pension reform, and to the history of our party.” This party is certainly no longer his (he returned his card at the end of 2020) but as he proclaimed to activists in his speech: “your story is ours.”
The history of Marseilles. It was here, in 1879, that workers, craftsmen and peasants gave birth to the socialist movement. It was called “congress of the split” (between the revolutionaries and the labor movement) it was in reality “the immortal congress”, will say Jules Guesde at the time. It is here that the union of the left has resurfaced in recent years, with the Printemps Marseille, well before the Nupes. Benoît Payan hardly wanted his city, which hosted the 80th congress of the Socialist Party and saw the birth of French socialism, to be the place of hatred and the tearing of the old pink house, the altar of the last of the socialist congresses, the PS cemetery.
“They ate their hat”
The Socialists have come a long way and the affair could have turned sour, if not worse. Throughout the day on Friday, a strange carousel is played out in the palace which overlooks the old port. Far from the big room where we gossip in public about Europe, youth, the lines of each motion carried by the candidates. There is a small room at the end of a corridor, protected by a few strong arms. Here meet Olivier Faure and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol. They leave the room, come back, leave. There is no wedding yet, but everyone has come with their witnesses: Johanna Rolland for the first, David Assouline and Jean-Marc Germain for the second. Hélène Geoffroy, unfortunate third, is also in the game.
Out of sight, we no longer really discuss Europe, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, François Hollande, etc. We fight over the positions, the hat that one wants to recover, the role that the other will not have. This is probably why Hélène Geoffroy quickly let it be known that the idea of collegial management to lead the pink apparatus, as Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol has been demanding in recent days, is not her cup of tea. She disagrees with the strategy of the outgoing First Secretary, wants to leave Nupes and believes that the mayor of Rouen is not clear on the subject.
On the menu of the discussions: tension, a lot of tension. Olivier Faure asks for guarantees from the mayor of Rouen, his competitor. We must recognize the results of the verification commission of January 21, the one that caused ink to flow and which gave Faure the winner (51.09%, against 48.91%). “The other request, says one of Olivier Faure’s negotiators, was to record, at home, that the rally line of the left around Nupes has been definitively cut. On this point, they have eaten their Hats off because the result is there: Olivier is the First Secretary.” Mayer-Rossignol, he is sticking to his positions. The impasse awaits the Socialists and the discussions drag on.
Supplementary
Wear and annoyance have finally convinced Hélène Geoffroy. The candidate, close to François Hollande, has changed her tone. She knows that the delegates of the congress will dub Olivier Faure anyway. The mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin does not envisage a split, and does not want to leave the Socialist Party. The psychodrama of recent weeks annoys him as it damages the party. “I repeated that we are in the Socialist Party, and we will stay there,” she confides. One of his relatives adds: “harsh words were spoken, we said of comrades that they deserved prison. We can’t say that.” Why break the socialist toy? Hélène Geoffroy makes Mayer-Rossignol understand that she has little desire to be his deputy in a four-headed management, made up of these two, Olivier Faure and his number two Johanna Rolland.
A door opens for the Faure clan in the early evening, this January 28. Hélène Geoffroy refuses the collegial direction, “because it supposes an agreement on the political line, which I do not accept” she justifies; but the mayor would like to take over the leadership of the National Council, the party’s parliament. Olivier Faure sees no inconvenience, especially since Geoffroy’s departure from the discussion table weakens his direct opponent. The mayor of Rouen accuses the blow. Here he is isolated in the fight of the leaders, facing Olivier Faure and Johanna Rolland.
Night deal
Yesterday, we did not buy Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol with a post but time has done its work. What does he weigh without his ally Hélène Geoffroy? Around four o’clock in the morning, in an SMS sent to Olivier Faure, he puts down his last cards on the table. He wants the post of Deputy First Secretary which Hélène Geoffroy no longer wants or, failing that, to be named number two. Exit then Johanna Rolland, exit also the joint direction. Faure and his clan categorically refuse. “In the message, he proposes to Olivier to be the only Deputy First Secretary, and that Johanna is nothing more than an assistant national secretary”, says someone close to Faure. Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol assumes: “we needed a balance in the direction, because the reality is that the balance of power was 50 – 50.”
In the middle of the night, nothing really progresses, but the telephones vibrate constantly. Martine Aubry joins Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol and Olivier Faure on several occasions, puts them under heavy pressure, calls them to responsibility. Carole Delga and Anne Hidalgo mingle with the dance, ask their champion Mayer-Rossignol not to give ground, and not to recognize the results of the highly disputed commission of verification which had given Olivier Faure the winner. Who will fold first? Doubt and concern invade the entourage of Olivier Faure, in the early morning of Saturday January 28. What is Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol looking for? Why doesn’t he give in? The worst case scenario is envisaged, says a lieutenant of the First Secretary: “he creates the conditions so that there is no agreement.”
Push-to-crime
On waking up on Saturday, fatigue digs into the faces of the negotiators. Olivier Faure refuses to give in and maintains the pressure: the general delegates of the congress will not vote after 2 p.m. A text is on the table, a “collective governance and socialist rally pact” written by the three currents. It says everything and its opposite: it “regrets the existence of irregularities during this congress” while “recognizing the quality of the democratic functioning of the Socialist Party”. Olivier Faure was appointed First Secretary, Johanna Rolland and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol first deputy secretaries.
In the grand hall of the Palais du Pharo, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol’s number appears on Johanna Rolland’s phone. She cuts off the conversation with a few journalists and goes to join her counterpart in Rouen in a hidden corridor. In a few minutes, everyone will present the content of the agreement to the members of their motion to discuss and ratify it. It will be yes at Hélène Geoffroy. Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol makes it clear to the city councilor of Nantes that he will convince his people. The operation is not the simplest: there are, in each camp, push-to-crime who do not want to give in to the other, even if it means creating a rupture. Charge to Mayer-Rossignol and Faure to calm the ardor of their militants. Peace is on the horizon. Saturday, at 2 p.m., the delegates of the congress overwhelmingly approve the memorandum of understanding in the large amphitheater of the Pharo.
The activists breathe, reassured. In the corridors, Pierre Jouvet, Faure’s gun carrier, meets Patrick Mennucci, Hélène Geoffroy’s lieutenant. In recent days, these two sent threats and jokes. The cameras are not there, nor the photographers, but the two men fall into their arms and kiss. They are strange, these socialists. Sometimes they insult each other, accuse each other of cheating, promise each other justice and prison, whistle each other. Sometimes they embrace, applaud each other. The miracle of Marseille, no doubt.
In a few weeks, the left-wing voters of the first constituency of Ariège (Occitanie) will be called back to the polls. The election of Bénédicte Taurine, rebellious deputy of the Nupes agreement re-elected in 2022, was canceled by the Constitutional Council. “I will support the outgoing rebellious deputy, and Nicolas assured me that he will do it too”, insists Olivier Faure. The new Deputy First Secretary moderates: “There has been no decision taken on this subject, we will discuss it.” Last June, Carole Delga, the president of the Occitanie region and supporter of Mayer-Rossignol, supported a socialist dissident. A practical case that could put an end to the miracle.