After a small hiccup, former President François Hollande will be a candidate in the early legislative elections on June 30 under the banner of the New Popular Front and invested by the Socialist Party. He will be a candidate in his stronghold, Corrèze. He explained the reasons for his choice to the press on Saturday June 15 from the town of Tulle where he was mayor for a long time. A sudden return to political life which took the Socialist Party by surprise and could create tensions within the New Popular Front.
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In a somewhat distant life, he was a deputy for 20 years in Corrèze. Francois Hollande announced on June 15 his candidacy for the next legislative elections in his favorite stronghold. The former head of state was seen on the ground shaking hands this morning in Tulle.
Defender of the union of the left despite his animosity towards LFI, the former President of the Republic considered that he should take part in the legislative election, the first round of which is scheduled for June 30. “ If I made this decision, it was because I felt that the situation was serious, more than it had ever been. “, he justified. “ In an exceptional situation, an exceptional decision “, he insisted, judging “ necessary to take all the personalities that [peuvent] contribute to this mobilization “.
The far right has never been so close to power. Political confusion reigns in our country. Faced with such a serious situation, I decided to be a candidate in the first constituency of Corrèze, as part of the #newpopularfront pic.twitter.com/yjlRq5K2AR
— François Hollande (@fhollande) June 15, 2024
“ I’m not looking for anything for myself “, he assured Tulle, assuring that he just wanted “ to render a service “. His return, however, risks dividing on the left, where environmentalists, communists and rebels are full of criticism of his five-year term, but also within the PS.
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A surprise, including to the Socialist Party
It’s a surprise candidacy among the socialists. François Hollande said in the local press that he had the support of the New Popular Front. But in the Socialist Party, even among those best placed in the hierarchy, no one seemed to know, because the initial candidate was to be the current mayor of Tulle, Bernard Combes, very close to the former president. It was the local PS federation in Corrèze which preferred the candidacy of François Hollande.
The Socialist Party finally announced that it would nominate former President François Hollande for the legislative elections, taking note of the choice of the Corrèze federation and the decision of the former head of state to recognize himself ” in the New Popular Front project », announced to AFP the president of the PS electoral commission Pierre Jouvet.
“ François Hollande declared this week that he recognized himself in the approach and project of the New Popular Front. We take note of the choice of the Corrèze federation to invest in it », writes the PS on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
François Hollande declared this week that he recognized himself in the approach and project of #NewPopularFront ecological and social.
Under these conditions, we take note of the choice of the federation of the Socialist Party of Corrèze to invest it.
— Socialist Party (@partisocialiste) June 15, 2024
Questioned in the Parisian demonstration against the extreme right, the First Secretary of the PS, Olivier Faurevery critical of the Hollande five-year term of which he carried out “an inventory” in 2018, admitted that he was “not not up to date » of the choice of the local federation, which he discovered on Saturday morning. But ” all those who adhere to the project of the New Popular Front and are ready to defend its colors together are welcome “, he added.
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