The presidential majority, resulting from Franรงois Hollande’s victory, must become a parliamentary majority if it wants to have the means to implement its electoral program. It is clear that cohabitation with a “muscular” right would be the worst of all possible options!
Moreover, the most right-leaning department and city in France (cf. the result of the 2nd round of the presidential election) are the target of an offensive by the presidential left to open a breach in the local right’s structure that holds practically all power.
If not this time, then when?
The prerequisite for this (oh so difficult) objective is the unity of all the forces that brought Franรงois Hollande to victory.
Hence the national agreement between the Socialist Party, the Greens (EELV), the MRC, and the PRG, which settled the issue of candidate distribution at the departmental level, leaving local leaders the choice of the men and women who will face the electorate.
The exemplary nature of the presidential campaign had allowed the traditional rivalries to be set aside, with the rallying call being everyone behind Franรงois Hollande.
The dynamics of victory suggested that the team play would function in the same way for the legislative elections but… there it is, the PRG opts for the path of rupture and presents at the last moment two candidates in key constituencies: the 2nd and the 3rd (Fabrice Lachenmaier, PRG Mayor of Mas, in the 2nd constituency and Jean-Christophe Picard, PRG departmental president, in the 3rd constituency). Where a handful of votes taken from each other could tip the presence in the second round and thus open the doors to a possible victory in the case of a three-way contest.
Why this “Picard case”?
Patrick Allemand did not mince words to condemn the attitude of PRG 06 president Jean-Christophe Picard: “It’s a bitter surprise, a real stab in the back. This attitude can have a devastating effect on our electorate who sees two candidates from the presidential majority presented. It is easy to imagine the confusion in people’s minds.”
To continue in unison with his coalition colleagues, Mari-Luz Hernandez-Nicaise (EELV), Ladislas Polski (MRC), and the “official” PS candidate Christine Dorejo: “I want to say that we have no problem whatsoever with the PRG and its voters. I denounce a personal approach that I consider irresponsible. Moreover, even during the cantonal and regional elections, this political leader had taken a hostile stance toward our coalition despite the national agreements. It is a form of deliberate autism that even an oversized ego cannot justify.”
Obviously, this ‘own goal’ can only make Christine Dorejo’s task more difficult. She has to face a “baron” of local and national politics, Rudy Salles (UMP-NC), and the young and (politically) aggressive Gaรซl Nofri, who has the support of FN-Rassemblement Bleu Marine.
