Editorial of the “World”. The first round of the ecological primary delivered, Sunday, September 19, its verdict: the MEP Yannick Jadot was ahead of the ecofeminist Sandrine Rousseau by a short head. The name of the finalist will be known on Tuesday, September 28.
At this stage, all the ingredients are in place to transform into democratic success a procedure that was not cheap. This is the first surprise. In turn, the other parties are denying the primary.
The Socialist Party, first of all, which, unlike 2011 and 2016, has given up on soliciting supporters of the left to choose its candidate. This time, the only members of the PS, moreover reduced to the minimum portion, will be authorized to say whether or not they support the candidacy of Anne Hidalgo, in the running since September 12. The result is not in doubt.
The leadership of the Republicans party, embarrassed by the overflow of candidates on the right, is also doing everything to spare itself the organization of an open primary, while 4 million voters had turned up in 2016. This times, she would prefer to entrust the sole members of the party with the task of deciding, without being assured of the effect of this internal vote, because the most serious rivals, Xavier Bertrand and Valérie Pécresse, have the particularity of not being sure of the effect of this internal vote. no longer belong to LR.
Since the thunderclap of 2017 which led to the elimination of François Fillon and Benoît Hamon from the second round of the presidential election, the primary has been the subject of two criticisms: its result would be biased by the entryism practiced by voters unwanted; the climate of competition that it fuels between the different competitors would make it impossible to rally around the winner.
By embarking on the adventure anyway, the management of EELV knew that it would have a third handicap to overcome. He had to demonstrate his ability to mobilize in order to give credibility to the idea that, this time, the finalist would not be doomed to figuration, as was the case with Eva Joly in 2011, or would not simply choose to s ‘wipe off. This is what Yannick Jadot decided in 2016 when, victorious in a primary limited to 17,000 registered, he rallied to socialist Benoît Hamon.
Two conceptions of ecology face each other
At the end of the first round, the contract is fulfilled, and this is the second surprise. The number of voters, which did not exceed 30,000 at the start, swelled with the pace of the debates, reaching 122,670, a record among environmentalists. Rumors of far-right entryism did not succeed in disrupting the ballot; the debates between the five candidates, very different from each other, were conducted in a courteous manner, with the same desire to give credibility to the ballot. The suspense lasted until the end because, from the moment when the electorate clearly exceeded the boundaries of the party, it was impossible to know who would come out on top of the competition.
Only 2,733 votes separate Yannick Jadot from Sandrine Rousseau. This very tight score maintains the suspense and forces the Greens to be extra vigilant if they want to succeed in the exercise. Two conceptions of ecology face each other, one open, claiming the culture of government, the other affirming its radicalism.
It is up to the finalists to convince without breaking, taking into account, moreover, the more than honorable score achieved by two losers, Delphine Batho and Eric Piolle. The exercise is both perilous and exhilarating because, in a left shattered, the epilogue will help determine whether it is around a centrist candidacy or a radical proposal that the rebirth of this camp is being played out.
www.lemonde.fr