- In Strasbourg, Catherine Trautmann becomes a PS candidate after the withdrawal of Mathieu Cahn. "20 Minutes" takes stock after this surprise announcement.
- "This is an unprecedented announcement," comments Sébastien Michon, director of research at the CNRS in Strasbourg. Especially in a city of this magnitude. ”
- Struggling in the polls, would the PS have decided to make a shift to win back the left electorate?
In Strasbourg, the socialist campaign team multiplies reassuring adjectives after the surprise withdrawal of its candidate, Mathieu Cahn, this Wednesday, in favor of Catherine Trautmann for the municipal elections.
"A courageous decision", say some, when others praise "the humility" of the candidate relegated to second position on the socialist list ... Officially, the earthquake caused by this announcement does not affect the local PS campaign. Mathieu Cahn's posters were removed from Wednesday at HQ located rue de la 1ère Armée, the leaflets sent to the crusher and the website deactivated. The new communication media which should show the face of the former Minister of Culture and Mayor of Strasbourg are already ordered.
"This is an unprecedented announcement"
The story told by elected officials and members who all want to remain anonymous is a little different. "They were stunned by the return of Trautmann," said one of them. According to our information, the running members had not been informed. An explanatory meeting was organized for an update this Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. before the joint press conference. "This is an unprecedented announcement," comments Sébastien Michon, director of research at the CNRS in Strasbourg. Especially in a city of this magnitude. ”
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The reasons put forward to justify this change raise questions. Mathieu Cahn explains it by the trial of the director of the house of associations, of which he is president. The hearing was postponed between the two rounds of the election. But this deadline has been known since November ... Off, a former heavyweight of the party suggests that the highlight of Trautmann would come after bad polls for the PS. "Many said that the campaign did not take off with the risk of not going to the second round," we slip to 20 Minutes . Hence the use of a historical figure like the former mayor of Strasbourg.
A turn to win back the left electorate?
"If they make less than 10%, it is the end of the local PS, the pressure is enormous, notes Philippe Breton, director of the Observatory of political life in Alsace (OVIPAL). The goal is to get 3-4% of the votes that can make a difference, ”continues the political scientist. Can this strategy pay off? "We can understand it politically," he observes, "but it can appear as tampering with the eyes of voters and serving the PS". Aware of this difficulty, Catherine Trautmann made a joke on her return, assuring that she was not "a ghost" or "a ghost" but a "catalyst" of the socialist project. Provided that she manages to federate around her person. "It is an election in which the candidates speak of citizen lists but where we only speak of the head of lists," notes researcher Sébastien Michon.
Faced with this paradox, would the PS have decided to make a shift to win back the left electorate, siphoned off by the green candidate Jeanne Barseghian? "Trautmann will not take a vote from the Greens or the right," continues Sébastien Michon. But it can capture voters who have turned to Alain Fontanel (LREM), especially the most undecided on the left. "
There remains an unknown: who could Catherine Trautmann join in the second round? Eyes turn to Jeanne Barseghian. But the former mayor of Strasbourg has expressed reservations on certain points of the green candidate's program, in particular the conditions for setting up the low emission zone (ZFE). Could she join Alain Fontanel? Same response from the new PS list head. “It will be on a clear program and commitment on the possibility of working together. Not just to allocate positions, "she said on Wednesday.
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Municipales 2020 in Strasbourg: Catherine Trautmann takes the head of the PS list after the withdrawal of Mathieu Cahn
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