The First Secretary of the Socialist Party has once again ruled out the idea of ??competing with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s NUPES for the upcoming European elections. In favor of an independent candidacy for his party, Olivier Faure is in the wake of EELV and the PCF, who also intend to do without France Insoumise.

“The left, even when it governed, was never united on European issues, a subject on which sensitivities on the left are most exacerbated”, recalls Mr. Faure, observing that it “did not put end to the government of Lionel Jospin” which brought together PS, Greens and Communists, and each of whom had led his own list to the Europeans of 1999. “Why should we question everything that we have to do together because we are not united? in an interim election? “Again questions the First Secretary of the PS. “The President of the Republic and his allies (MoDem and Horizons, editor’s note) have no agreement for the senatorials, no one imagines that this will put an end to their coalition”, he notes.

“I want the Socialists to speak out at the end of September,” added Faure, who inaugurated the PS university in Blois on Thursday. “But (the PCF and EELV) have already announced that they will leave alone: ??so, barring a major event, I don’t see what would allow us to hope for a single list”.

“We are not a single party. I respect the strategic autonomy of my partners,” he insisted. In view of the presidential election of 2027, the boss of the PS promises, on the other hand, to do “everything in his power to maintain the course of the rally of the left and environmentalists”. “It is imperative if we are to govern tomorrow. The rally for 2027 is not an option but an obligation,” he insists.

Mr. Faure also confirmed that he would go to the meeting organized by Emmanuel Macron with all the political forces, Wednesday in the Paris region. “We will come with our proposals. I’ve heard the president talk about referendums, there’s one all found…on pensions,” he warned.

In private Thursday evening, ex-president François Hollande, present in Blois, welcomed the positioning of Olivier Faure.

A PS list is “obvious”, according to the ex-head of state, who was opposed to the Nupes agreement. “We have to be able to show that the Europeans are an election where the socialists necessarily have their place,” he noted. But for François Hollande, who is “a candidate for nothing” while some would like to see him take the lead of the PS list, we need “the most attractive list possible”, not only from the different currents of the PS, but “to broaden maximum”, so that it is “capable of exceeding 10%”.

“We have to be ambitious in this campaign, we must mobilize our former ministers, mix experiences and renewal”, he added, referring in particular to Stéphane le Foll or Bernard Cazeneuve, who left the party. The latter seemed to take a step towards Olivier Faure on Wednesday in an interview. “What Bernard Cazeneuve must hear is that it is impossible to imagine that the unity of the PS is built against the unity of the left,” replied Olivier Faure.