Even “Jaures” was there. On Saturday afternoon, the historic former bodyguard of the Socialist Party, ousted during the waves of dismissals that punctuated the electoral setbacks of the PS, provided security for the first major meeting of La Convention, the movement launched in March by Bernard Cazeneuve. “It’s the biggest social-democratic meeting since 2012, perhaps outside of electoral rallies,” boasts a long-time supporter of François Hollande, present in the front row alongside his ex-Prime Minister.
There was an air of back to school after a long, very long forced vacation in the huge sports hall in Créteil (Val-de-Marne), this Saturday, June 10. Alongside the star of the day, who, given the heat, is not wearing her usual three-piece suit (too bad for the mockers), there are all those who have accompanied her since the first steps of La Convention, or have joined him over the months: the boss of the Radical Left Party Guillaume Lacroix, the deputy David Habib, the mayor of Montpellier Michaël Delafosse, the president of the Brittany region Loïg Chesnais-Girard, the former boss of Renault Louis Schweitzer, who discusses with the ex-leader of FO Jean-Claude Mailly…
And a lot of personalities from the cultural world such as the theater man Jean-Michel Ribes and the director Serge Moati, author of a film projected in the room in tribute to the great socialist figs – Blum, Jaurès, Mitterrand, Jospin, Hollande… In total, some 1,500 people crammed into an overheated gymnasium.
“All these people know that Bernard Cazeneuve is the last hope before Marine Le Pen”, confides Michel Destot, the ex-mayor of Grenoble (Isère), certain that a new candidacy of Jean-Luc Mélenchon will promote accession to the Élysée du RN in 2027. The leader of Nupes is the favorite target of the personalities present in Créteil. “There is a need to rebuild a great force, capable, once again, of leading the left to power,” said François Hollande on the stage, widely applauded. There will be no possible victory if it is not this force [une gauche sociale-democrate, NDLR] which is the first on the left. »
At his side, the former President of the European Parliament, the German Martin Schulz, fears that France “falls into nationalist hands, from right and left”… In order to counter nationalism, François Hollande, much applauded, called for the constitution, in the European elections, of a social democratic list – understand, without LFI.
Obviously, all Bernard Cazeneuve’s supporters present in Créteil show their confidence in the momentum that seems to be building. “Something is happening,” observes Gers deputy David Habib, one of the first socialists to join the former interior minister, now a business lawyer. According to him, the circle of parliamentarians surrounding Bernard Cazeneuve is constantly growing, including majority deputies such as Cécile Rilhac and Lionel Causse.
“When one has been a candidate for an election twelve times, nothing in the electoral code prevents one from being a candidate for a thirteenth time! “Nothing can stop me,” he said again. It was in Créteil that, on January 24, 1981, François Mitterrand was nominated by the Socialist Party to be a candidate for the presidential election.
