The Congress of the PS is held from January 27 to 29 in Marseille le Congrès. The party must find its new course during this meeting but the re-election of Olivier Faure is still contested by his opponent, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol.
[Mis à jour le 27 janvier 2023 à 14h48] The Socialist Party continues to tear itself apart. Since the election supposed to designate the headliner of the party, two camps are still opposed despite the end of the votes. Olivier Faure, continues to proclaim his victory, short, but victory all the same according to him. Opposite, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol does not let go and denounces “massive irregularities” during the ballot which cost him victory.
This Friday, January 27 until January 29, the 80th Congress of the Left Party is held in a poisonous atmosphere. The event is however capital because supposed to give a political direction to the PS after the bitter failure of Anne Hidalgo in the presidential elections of 2022 which had gathered only 1.7% of the votes, a historically low score for the party. A sign of increased tension, on January 23 Olivier Faure proposed an alliance to Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol and Hélène Geoffroy – excluded in the first round – to integrate the party leadership with “strong responsibilities”. The former candidates both declined. Former Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault even denounced a “pathetic situation”. Martine Aubry, PS mayor of Lille, shared on BFM TV his “tremendous sadness” at the situation. In an interview at the ProvenceOlivier Faure nevertheless says he remains hopeful: “The discussion is fluid, the doors are not closed, we can find an agreement, including during the congress in Marseille” he hoped.
In addition to this split, the place of the PS within Nupes, the grand coalition of left-wing parties is also at the heart of the disputes. Olivier Faure is in favor of it, his opponent Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol more nuanced on the question. A political alliance which divides the pundits of the party but also the militants. In testimonies collected by France Blue, several activists have expressed their bewilderment on the political situation of the party. “The ideas that I have today, I cannot make them evolve in the Nupes structure”, declared a militant of the party encarte for 40 years. This 80th congress of the PS has a heavy mission ahead of it: to appoint its leader and find its own voice.
Why is the result of the PS election disputed?
Fifteen minutes apart, Oliver Faure and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol both claimed victory to take the lead of the party on the evening of January 19. Since then, the first affirms his victory and the second maintains that the ballot was disrupted by numerous “irregularities”. During the weekend, the two men accused each other of cheating and exposed several examples on social networks including “ballot boxes moved in closed rooms, tellers expelled by the police, polling stations non-existent or closed before the time of closing…” according to a tweet from the mayor of Rouen.
Faced with the result, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol requested the seizure of the verification committee to verify the sincerity of the ballots and a recount of the votes was organized during the weekend. But the verification was not complete according to the defeated candidate who judges Olivier Faure and the management of the PS once again responsible for ignoring the result of the election.
“The work of this commission was blocked when only 45 of the hundred departmental federations had been validated. It is absolutely unacceptable”, complained Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol on France info on January 22 after a weekend of crisis. Criticism against which Oliver Faure assures that “all the federations with a dispute have been checked”. The re-elected first secretary of the PS also brushes aside the accusations of fraud launched by his rival and reduces the whole affair to the rank of “bad controversy”. The fact remains that the mayor of Rouen does not rule out this controversy by taking action by resorting to “judicial means”.
What are the results of the PS election?
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. But it is the results of the second ballot which were expected and which are at the heart of the controversy. On the morning of Friday, January 20, the PS formalized 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.
Despite criticism from Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, Olivier Faure defended an “electoral reality” on France info January 23: “There were several votes which all go in the same direction: a vote on orientation, where I achieved a score of 49%, with a majority in the national council and a majority of the delegates in the congress. […] The activity report was approved by 57% and only 20% rejected it. Now there is the vote for First Secretary which I won 51%, I have no doubt about that.”
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 credo? To be neither for nor against the Nupes, and to reform a “social-democratic, republican, humanist and ecological left”.
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.