He is the only deputy of the Fifth Republic to have served four successive terms. Henri Sicre, mayor of Céret for 17 years, general councilor for 19 years, was elected with the Socialist Party card in 1988, 1993, 1997 and in 2002 in the fourth constituency of the Pyrénées-Orientales. He agreed to give us his analysis of the result of the first round of the early legislative elections in this territory which, for the second time, brought the National Rally to first place. The outgoing far-right deputy Michèle Martinez found herself in a favorable ballot against the candidate of the new Popular Front Julien Baraillé, who also comes from the Rose party.
What is your analysis of this first round in the 4th constituency?
The result did not surprise me. We are in a completely crazy situation resulting from a political disorder such as has never been seen in human memory. How do you expect to hold elections in this context? During the four days following the dissolution of the National Assembly, there was a hullabaloo in the nomination of candidates. In the 4th constituency, one day you had an LFI, another it was a Place publique and we come back to LFI. Then, local arrangements with Perpignan meant that we put a socialist here, which does not displease me, and an LFI in Perpignan. From there, we are doing politics out of touch. In the last legislative elections, moreover, when it was necessary to nominate the candidates, we chose four municipal councilors from Perpignan for the four constituencies. I regret that we no longer have a political fabric attached to local problems. When I was a member of parliament, we had a local relationship and when I was in Paris I represented the territory. Today we no longer know.
I agreed that the left should not leave divided but that we should stop this puppet show.
How do you explain this progression of the extreme right over the last two years in historically left-wing areas such as Elne, Argelès, Céret, Collioure, etc.?
There is a certain lack of confidence in the political management that we have known since 2017, a deterioration in purchasing power, a problem with pensions, plus insecurity that is magnified. Everything that would have caused minor aches and pains in the past now generates a high fever. A state of mind that cannot be responded to. This added to the fact that the leaders of the RN have shown a form of wisdom, even if from time to time remarks escape them that are not admissible. And on the other side, it is madness. I agreed that the left should not leave divided but that we should stop this puppet show. Everything is disjointed. On the left, as elsewhere.
Do you think that the socialist candidate Julien Baraillé still has a reserve of votes?
I went to vote in the first round. I’ll go vote again on Sunday. An old thing like me doesn’t ask himself any questions. We have a socialist candidate who should garner quite a few votes. The problem is that there was such a turnout that there is no possibility of mobilizing abstainers, there are none left. It is in the votes cast that a distribution must be made. Here it should not be a problem. There are voters from the Presence Majority who will vote for him, that’s for sure. There will be a few grumblers, it will not be 100%, but it should not form a bloc against him. And then we will also see the voting instructions of the Republicans. Knowing that it will take everything and absolutely all the votes to come out on top.
For you, does the union with France Insoumise not risk penalizing this unique candidacy on the left?
At LFI, there are some good ones like François Ruffin or Alexis Corbière. It is rather the form and tone that their leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon used that poses a problem. Everything crystallizes against him. But I do not think that Julien Baraillé should suffer in a massive way the vote of people who would rebel against this agreement.
This time it’s screwed but it’s not dead
You who created the Union of the Left with François Mitterrand, why is it so difficult today?
I entered politics in 1968 and we came to power in 1981. We must not forget that we remained in opposition for 23 years. Mitterrand remained 23 years without being a minister but with tenacity and determination, he became President of the Republic. Every time we lost an election, we started again. But we were less urgent, our society is always more rushed. There will always be particularities, nuances, but on the essentials the left must be united and we must find common formulas, in this need to reestablish the Nation.
Is the National Rally anchored for years?
At the national level, this time, it’s over, but it’s not dead. I’m optimistic. We’re experiencing a wave, some heat waves, but it will subside. The traditional parties that have managed our country for 50 or 60 years are crushed, even if the socialists recover a little. It’s not going to happen this week, but we’ll get our heads back together. Especially since if misfortune happens and we’re in opposition to the RN, there will clearly be ideological material to rebuild ourselves. Between the Popular Front and Macronie, that’s 40% of voters who can still be mobilized and I hope that, in an election that returns to a normal calendar, we’ll be able to come to our senses.
“You shouldn’t believe that in 1993, the right voted for the National Front candidate”
A historic political monument of the fourth constituency of the Pyrénées-Orientales, Henri Sicre is also “a vestige”, he smiled, of resistance to the National Front in this territory. In four successive campaigns to run for deputy seats, the socialist has each time come in pole position in the first round. Enough to approach the last line with a certain tranquility. Except in 1993. “I knew that the elections were going to be difficult in the 4th constituency. I managed to express the fear that certain individuals on the right gave me, there were three of them running against me, plus a National Front member.l. So he came in second place and the others didn’t get enough votes to stay in place,” he retraces. Henri Sicre therefore wins by 57.29%, 6,000 votes ahead of the far-right contender. “He still got more than 40% (42.71% Editor’s note). You shouldn’t believe it. At the time, the right voted FN.”
Henri Sicre then became the only socialist deputy of Languedoc-Roussillon.We went from more than 270 deputies to 57, like in a classroom. We had to do everything. We had to part with our collaborators. But we continued.”
