“It is now, together, that everything is at stake. » This is the slogan chosen by Place publique for its return to school which will take place on Saturday October 5 and Sunday October 6 in La Réole. The event especially marks the return of Raphaël Glucksmann, who went through the dissolution-legislative sequence under the radar. The choice of the southern Gironde commune has symbolic value: no, Place publique and its herald – it carries the promise of restoring color to social democracy – do not simply embody “the left Saint-Germain-des-Prés “.
The territories, the rural areas, are within the scope of the small party with big ambitions. All those who are on the left and harbor an aversion to Jean-Luc Mélenchon in particular and the Insoumis in general will be there. Disappointed with the macronie (Aurélien Rousseau, Sacha Houlié, Clément Beaune), socialists (Anne Hidalgo, Boris Vallaud), ecologists (Yannick Jadot).
Temptation
Public square and its leader deploy a powerful power of attraction in Gironde, a historically socialist land. Several personalities will take the stage (Alain Rousset, Jean-Luc Gleyze, Pascale Got, Marie Récalde), a host of socialist elected officials have promised to slip a face there. Is there a “public square temptation”? The movement is making its mark by rallying elected officials. Like today’s host Bruno Marty, the mayor of La Réole, badly burned by the Nupes-NFP agreements in the legislative elections. Others got on board after the last Europeans, like Bruno Bureau, the mayor of Salles: “I like the Glucksmann method, he is not in the permanent buzz. The hardest part begins. We must build a solid building. »
A small galaxy of elected officials is emerging: in the Region (Marie-Laure Cuvelier, Sandrine Hernandez, Virginie Lenoir), in the Department (Louis Cavaleiro), in communities of municipalities (Alain Zabulon in Créonnais) or town halls (Pierre Gachet in Creon), but not only that. Place publique had around fifty members in Gironde when it was created in 2019. “There are 510 of us today, with a strong membership dynamic during the Europeans,” figures the coordinator of La Réole meetings, Sandrine Hernandez. Others are awaiting transfer.
“What is interesting with Place publique is that the moderate left is starting to think again”
“Something is happening around Glucksmann,” notes Philippe Buisson, the mayor of Libourne. “Public square is a new space, an atrium for dialogue, and can establish itself as the barycenter of the left. I don’t know any social democrats who are ready to sign up to the PS, a big sick body headed by Olivier Faure, the submissive of the Insoumis. » Always close to François Hollande, he says he is ready to join. “Not for tactical reasons, but for intellectual exercise. What is interesting with Place publique is that the moderate left is starting to think again, to bring back content, to build perspectives for social democracy. This is exactly what is missing. »
« Rock star »
Seeing Raphaël Glucksmann return to Gironde raises eyebrows in the socialist “old house”: “The good news is that it is budding in the social-democratic camp. We are used to this biodiversity,” explains Thierry Trijoulet, head of the federal government in Gironde. “The PS is on a social-democratic line. We are systematically referred to Mélenchon. We must stop with this little music of submission: in the NFP program on Europe, Ukraine, the international, anti-Semitism, who imposed their ideas? The subject is the union of the left. Glucksmann prints, it’s a sexy offering, he’s the rock star of the moment. It worked well in the Europeans. There remains a lot of work to get to the presidential election. Our success will come through unity. »
The socialist federation does not see a massive transfer to Place publique. Since the dissolution, 300 new members (4,000 nationally) have pushed through the doors of the PS, which has 1,800 activists in Gironde.
Chapels
Socialist leaders, under the seal of anonymity, draw on the Fables of La Fontaine: “Public square, they are the hurry of history, the hare and the tortoise. » “It’s the frog that wants to make itself bigger than the ox,” squeaks another. For Stéphane Delpeyrat-Vincent, the PS mayor of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, “it is very good that figures are emerging, like Glucksmann or Tondelier. We must stop the childish socialist congresses to form a central left. And build a social, ecological and humanist project. Building yourself against Mélenchon is not enough. Sympathy has no translation at the ballot box. Be careful not to multiply the chapels. » The slogan of Place publique in La Réole hits the nail on the head: “It’s now that everything is at stake. »
