The bourgeois of Calais – The editorial by Patrice Chabanet
The Socialist Party – at least what’s left of it – will drink the chalice of defeat to the dregs. After his scathing defeat in the presidential election, he is forced to look for a savior. Like the bourgeois of Calais, he relies on the benevolence of rebellious France. A humiliation that he passes off as a totally assumed choice. We comfort each other as best we can. He is even reduced to going to the headquarters of LFI. What a downfall for a party that has governed France! Move from the central role of political life to that of auxiliary. This is undoubtedly the price he thinks he has to pay to save MP seats.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon drinks whey with this reversal of roles. He is already displayed on the walls of our cities as the future Prime Minister. But the reality is more complex than the chin effects and outrageous speeches of the leader. The socialist electorate that he will eventually have to convince is rather social democratic, while he remains stuck on a much more statist line. Same cleavage in foreign policy: Mélenchon does not manage to hide his pro-Russian preferences and his inclinations for the authoritarian regimes of Latin America.
In case of agreement with LFI, a result is already acquired: the minorities of the Socialist Party leave the boat. The first secretary does not stop castigating them. A way to forget his obvious failure in the bankruptcy of his party. For five years, as at LR for that matter, nothing was done to rebuild it and allow the emergence of new leaders. For the moment, the PS shakes off like a headless duck.