At the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, where the Socialist Congress is taking place until Sunday, the 186 delegates almost unanimously waved their red card this Saturday, January 28. It is in no way an expulsion, unlike sports arenas, but the validation of an agreement on the composition of the PS leadership. After several days of internal disputes and an incredible battle, the Socialists ratified the victory of Olivier Faure as first secretary of the PS. “This house, you have just, once again, saved it”, reacted to the microphone, to applause, the mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan, who said “to have been afraid in recent days”.
According to the management, the text, on which the two rivals agreed, determines that Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, skeptical of the left-wing Nupes alliance and who has so far contested the victory of Olivier Faure, will become first deputy secretary alongside the mayor of Nantes Johanna Rolland. Hélène Geoffroy, leader of the anti-Nupes, will take over the presidency of the national council – the party’s parliament.
“We are ready for an agreement”, at the end of a “transparent and democratic exchange”, explained Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol to the press, after having presented him to his supporters. The mayor of Rouen disputed for several days the victory of the outgoing first secretary (with officially 51.09%).
A “global governance”
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol says he embodies a central line, less pro-Nupes than that of Olivier Faure. He does not hide his reluctance vis-à-vis LFI and an agreement that has disappointed many socialists. Asked by AFP whether he recognized that his rival was now indisputably the first secretary, he defended, without specifying, that it was about “global governance”. The term “collegiate leadership”, which he wanted, was not retained in the text, said management.
The discussions, which lasted all night, notably concerned Olivier Faure’s proposal to integrate his rivals into the management team, but in recognition of his victory. “There is an architecture to be built in respect of what the activists have expressed”, explained the leader of the deputies Boris Vallaud. That is to say a “balance of the balance of power” which translates into “thematic national secretaries” and “order in the organization chart”.
After a first vote on the orientation text, Olivier Faure had obtained 49% of the votes and the mayor of Rouen around 30%, ahead of a third candidate, the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin Hélène Geoffroy ( around 20%).