Ecologist primary: an attempt to transform
Audio 03:07
The two finalists of the primary of Europe Ecology-The Greens, Yannick Jadot and Sandrine Rousseau, during a debate on LCI, in Paris on September 22, 2021. © AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
By: Anthony Lattier Follow
6 mins
It is this Saturday, September 25 that begins - and for 4 days - the vote for the second round of the primary of environmentalists in France.
He opposes the MEP Yannick Jadot to the one who created the surprise, the academic Sandrine Rousseau.
Less than 3,000 voices separated them in the first round.
Whatever the result, with these 122,000 registrants and these quality debates, this primary is a success for environmentalists.
But, for them, the hard part begins.
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This primary is a success first of all because the debates allowed a real confrontation of points of view and lines. We have seen a fundamental opposition between an ecology of government supported by Yannick Jadot and an ecology of rupture carried by Sandrine Rousseau. We talked about degrowth, ecofeminism, "demobility", animal welfare, ecological taxation. This sparked sometimes virulent criticism from the right and the far right against Sandrine Rousseau, but environmentalists have for once imposed their themes. These exchanges gave air to a French public debate curled up on identity issues.
It is also a success because the ecologists have succeeded in rallying beyond their - small - militant base.
12,000 voters in the first round of the 2016 primary. 106,000 this year.
There was a craze.
That must however be put into perspective with the millions of voters in the primaries of the left and the right 5 years ago.
But precisely this year the Socialist Party (PS) and The Republicans (LR) are struggling, they refuse to go through a primary, environmentalists can therefore be proud of their designation process.
The challenge of gathering
It will still be necessary to build on this advantage. And this is where things get complicated. How to come together after facing each other (this is the flip side of any primary)? How to operate the synthesis between the pragmatic ecology of Jadot and that more radical of Rousseau? Another issue: how to ensure that the bellows does not fall? To maintain this "primary effect"? The environmentalist party has planned the next step: the upcoming creation of a political movement to which it will be easy to join. The idea - explains a manager of EELV - is to go beyond the small party Europe ecology - the Greens and continue to aggregate.
Another challenge for environmentalists: how to win against other rivals on the left? Here things get even more complicated! In recent years, the ecologists have been on the rise: 3rd place in the Europeans, victory in the municipal elections in several large cities (Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, etc.). The Greens are now ambitious: they want to govern and they want to be the central force of the left. But do they have the means? This primary will not be enough to take the ascendant on the left. And depending on the profile of the winner, the balance of power will not be the same: Jadot - the pragmatic - will hamper the socialists, Rousseau - the radical - will encroach on the niche of rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon. On the left, everyone therefore scrutinizes this duel and makes their calculations. Waiting for,very clever the one who could say who will win this second round on Tuesday evening. "
I won't even bet a coffee on the winner!
»Laughs one of the EELV executives.
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Yannick Jadot
French politics
Environment
Presidential France 2022
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