Anne Hidalgo, who has led Paris since 2014, is leaving the town hall of the French capital at the end of her mandate in 2026.
In an interview with the daily Le Monde published Tuesday, November 26, Hidalgo announced that she preferred to support the candidacy of her former first deputy and current PS senator from Paris, Rémi Féraud.
But who is this Rémi Féraud, the senator since 2017, member of the board of directors of the Kurdish Institute of Paris? A connoisseur of Iran-related issues, he has a habit of posting anti-Tehran messages on his X.
In general, the PS Federation of Paris is known for gestures of anti-Iran interference. As is the case for supporting the 2022 disruptions and riots in Iran.
Féraud accompanied Hidalgo on his way to City Hall even during the current mayor's electoral campaign.
Féraud was trained politically within the Movement of Young Socialists (MJS).
The former PS candidate had recorded a catastrophic score in the 2022 presidential election. Hidalgo only received 1.75% of the vote and finished tenth in the first round of the presidential election.
This again reflects the defeat of the socialists in the presidential election. In 2017, the other PS candidate, Benoît Hamon, came in fifth position in this first round of the presidential election with only 6.35% of the votes.
However, in the polls of the Ifop-Fiducial institute, the president of the Paris in common group on the municipal council, Rémi Féraud, comes in second position. In front of him, the disappointed candidate in 2020, now Minister of Culture and still mayor of the 7th arrondissement: Rachida Dati, Hidalgo's sworn enemy.
Rémi Féraud, supported by an alliance between the PS and the Communist Party, won only 20% of the votes.
Gabriel Attal can also block Féraud’s path. For 42% of respondents, the former Macronist Prime Minister would make a good mayor.
Rémi Féraud is, moreover, a supporter of Israel. At the Paris council, he supported an anti-Islam definition on the theme of anti-Semitism.
Anne Hidalgo, too, affirmed her unconditional support for Israel, triggering a series of diverse reactions in the Parisian community.
The socialist Marie, defender of a white and blue Eiffel Tower, openly demonstrates her support for Israel. This declared support for Israel and the distance taken with the French left (traditionally insisting on France's diplomatic balance) are indicative of the PS's strategies and future directions.
Currently, the official resolutions of the French socialists do not however show submission towards the Zionist regime.
“The project of the Israeli extreme right, whose leaders have prominent responsibilities in Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, which aims to empty the occupied territories of all Palestinian life, is a crime against Peace. It leads to political impasse and permanent resentment while exacerbating tensions with risks of contagion in the region, particularly in Lebanon. This is why the Socialist Party once again asks France, whose historic voice has been silenced since the start of the war, to take an initiative with the European Union so that the international community puts an end to this terrible situation. in Gaza. »
…
“We must also support the active Palestinian forces, whether political, civil, associative or trade union, so that the Palestinians can also express themselves on their future. This is why the Socialist Party supports any initiative that will move towards the proclamation and recognition of the Palestinian state.
We reiterate our availability to organize in France, with the Socialist International, a forum for peace in the Middle East and the development of the Euro-Mediterranean basin. »
(Socialist Party resolution on the situation in Gaza – February 14, 2024)
However, in April 2024 and after the IRGC's Honest Promise missile operation against the Zionist regime, the PS published a pro-Israel statement.
Former socialist president François Hollande, as well as several PS deputies, signed the bill tabled by Caroline Yadan, the Macronist deputy, aimed at criminalizing speeches in support of Palestine. A position which further illustrates their alliance with enemies of Palestine.
In 2014, President Hollande supported the Zionist regime's murderous operations in the Gaza Strip.
In the same year of 2014, the Valls-Hollande government repressed and banned solidarity demonstrations with Gaza.
The PS is taking advantage of its pro-Zionist actions to save its previously degrading position among political parties in France.
The party currently has only 62 seats in parliament, whereas 10 years ago there were more than 200 representatives.
In any case, Hidalgo's favorite, the pro-Zionist Rémi Féraud, must also confront the divisions within the socialists. The head of the PS Olivier Faure gave his preference to Emmanuel Grégoire.
It is the 3,000 members of the Paris Socialist Federation who decide the fate of the two PS candidates for the Paris 2026 municipalities.
