The historic achievement of Anne Hidalgo. leaders Socialist Party (PS) The French were frightened by the terrible voting intentions that the polls gave them. But they still need to pinch their skin to accept the reality of their depressing results this Sunday in the first round of the French presidential election. The mayor of Paris received only 2% of the vote and, according to estimates of the results (very precise), was second to last among the twelve candidates for the Elysée. His erratic campaign and the socialists’ bad reputation in France increased the impact of progressive voters’ beneficial votes in favor of Jean-Luc Mélenchon (third) and Emmanuel Macron (first). They sunk this leader of Spanish origin..
“I know how many of you are disappointed tonight, and we will strike all objective balances,” said the socialist, concentrated somewhere south of Paris, in front of his supporters. I seriously ask you to make sure that France does not fall into the hatred of all against all. extreme right Marine Le Pen is voting Emmanuel Macron,” he added, adding that the mayor is the first of many candidates to demand a safety strip against the far-right lepenista.
Socialist militants, warned by the polls, greeted the announcement of the collapse with resignation. Not just a worse outcome 6% obtained by the socialist Benoit Hamon in 2017but never before in the history of the rose party had it fallen so low in a presidential election. It is also a warning of their possible defeat in the next parliamentary elections scheduled for June. Currently, the Socialists have 28 deputies Of the total of 577 people in the National Assembly.
The clamp between Macron and Mélenchon
When the socialist leadership nominated the mayor of Paris as its candidate, it was confident that it had found the right profile of the president. Be born San Fernando (Cadiz)Hidalgo, 62, managed to get comfortable re-election as head of the capital’s City Council, winning close to 50% of the vote in June 2020. It had a good balance in terms of ecology and program. far left than moderate Francois Hollandehis disappointing mission (from 2012 to 2017) continues to weigh in on the party of the rose.
Socialist expectations of a dominant role in this presidential election were quickly dashed by Hidalgo’s indecisive campaign. Despite excessive fragmentation is a burden left, proposal to pre-select with the group progressive formations The mayor of Paris was shot in the foot. Spending the last month of the campaign criticizing Mélenchon’s alleged contempt for Vladimir Putin did not do him any good, quite the contrary.
The final touch to this debacle came after a succession of socialist leaders who wanted to vote for the rebel leader or Macron. The former constituency of the PS was divided. two seemingly opposite blocks, at least at the program level. The fact of rescuing him will be more than a complex task.