The primary debate was supposed to finally decide between two politically difficult-to-reconcile lines: that of the realistic left that wants to govern and that of the protest left that wants to oppose. It did.
It is clearly the latter that has won. Of course, Manuel Valls remains in the race and can still harbor some (slight) hopes, but the arithmetic and political reality favors Benoรฎt Hamon.
This January 2017 evening is therefore likely to be something of a reverse Bad Godesberg for the Socialist Party and is, in the short term, very good news for Emmanuel Macron, who is well-positioned to be the sole remaining candidate from next Sunday onward to embody the government left.
We are therefore heading towards a duel between a right-wing ultra-liberal and a left-wing liberal, arbitrated by the far right… What do the left of the left, the rebels, and other protesters think about this?
Patrick Mottard
