Saint-Denis (AFP)

EELV ecologists designate their new national secretary Saturday at their congress in Saint-Denis, but they will not have managed to save themselves from internal tensions, despite their wish to avoid the quarrels of the past and to gather before crucial municipal elections.

"The bad theater", plague spokesman Julien Bayou, whose motion arrived largely in the lead (42.9%) during the vote of some 3,200 activists on November 16, and who as such is tipped to succeed David Cormand - who supports him - as National Secretary.

The three other motions, including former MEP Eva Sas (26.2%), Deputy National Secretary Alain Coulombel (21.6%) and Executive Board Member Philippe, would have gone well. Stanisière (8.5%).

Main stumbling block, the distribution of the 15 positions of the executive office. If they do not dispute the appointment of Julien Bayou as party boss, these representatives intend not to leave him the majority of the members of the management team.

In a letter Thursday evening, they urged him to respect "the proportional order for the distribution of the number of posts, responsibilities", "that is 7 positions for the motion A and 8 positions for the whole BCD, and the national secretariat to motion A ".

"At a time when everywhere in the territories we are fighting to put the ecology in power in the municipalities and to implement the ecological transition, it is our collective responsibility to unite ourselves in the respect of our diversity", add- they.

The prospect of a single motion at the time of the final vote of the 400 delegates Saturday is threatened. Negotiations should continue until the last minute, when motions are tabled at 1:00 pm

- Jadot has preserved -

Even in the event of a successful outcome, the environmentalists will have partially failed to offer the image of a formation gathered at a time to continue the good dynamics of the European elections (3rd with 13.5%) for the municipal elections of March , where they want to take several big cities.

"To imagine a counter-majority, to risk the movement to find what the Greens have produced the worst is absolutely disrespectful of the votes of the members" and engages "a heavy responsibility vis-à-vis the municipal," Julien Bayou scolds at the l AFP.

"It is not taking seriously the new responsibilities that fall on us" and that "brings us back to the early 2000s" when the internal quarrels reigned, abounds David Cormand - who remains optimistic for Saturday.

"The reality is quieter than the words used by some", also dramatizes MEP Mounir Satouri, signatory to the motion of Eva Sas and one of its negotiators. He promises: "We first worked at three because it was the condition for not a majority that forms two lists crushes a minority.We will be four at the end.

Yannick Jadot is probably happy not to have been involved in the congress, preserving his status as a true leader of EELV. At least, it has not been officially pronounced for one or the other motion, merely wanting a large gathering. Because in fact, most of his relatives found themselves in the motion of Eva Sas, who did not hesitate to claim his proximity to the former head of the European list.

The presentation of independent lists of any other left-wing formation in many large cities shows in any case that the option successfully defended by Yannick Jadot to the European has been essentially renewed for the municipal.

© 2019 AFP