Will Bernard Cazeneuve be Gabriel Attal’s successor at Matignon? In Blois, the hypothesis of the nomination of the former prime minister of François Hollande, fueled by the Elysée in recent days, has disrupted the university of the Socialist Party (PS), which is being held from August 29 to 31, and confused the message around Lucie Castets, candidate of the New Popular Front (NFP) at Matignon.
The first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, had nevertheless prepared a tailor-made program for her. Invited to her big meeting on Friday, at the end of the day, alongside other NFP personalities – the former “insoumise” Clémentine Autain, the ecologist Marine Tondelier, the communist Léon Deffontaines, and the “insoumis” Eric Coquerel –, the one who claims the post of prime minister was applauded by the activists. “Lucie Castets at Matignon, Lucie Castets at Matignon”chanted the Young Socialists upon his arrival.
But on stage, Olivier Faure resolved to respond to the rumors, and, for the first time, gave his thoughts on the possible appointment of a socialist to Matignon. In addition to Bernard Cazeneuve, the name of the mayor of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), Karim Bouamrane, sitting in the front rows, also circulated. Friday morning, the latter acknowledged on TF1 that he had had contacts with the Elysée, but warned that if he were offered Matignon, he would turn to his political family to chart the course.
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Avoiding personal attack, Olivier Faure chose derision and acted as if it was him that Emmanuel Macron was calling. “Imagine that I go to Matignon without you, my friends. Will I have a flashing light, because all betrayal has a price?”he said ironically. The Seine-et-Marne MP set about discouraging anyone from believing « that with [sa] force of conviction, [son] talent, [il] could convince [ses] friends of yesterday, today, tomorrow, and impose a balance of power on the head of state”he continued, calculating that with only 66 deputies, the socialists, who would not have the support of the three other left-wing forces, would remain “minority compared to the Macronists”.
“If you want to govern without the NFP with the right, you will be the right”he warned, acting as if there were now no other option than the NFP and Lucie Castets. A new turn after a more moderate expression on Tuesday 27 August, when he explained, during a stormy national office, that a left-wing prime minister would not be censored a priori, unless he continued the “Emmanuel Macron’s policy”. At that point, the door was open to other suitors.
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