Paris (AFP)

Olivier Faure, first secretary of the PS, pleaded for "the left after", that of the "gathering" social-ecologist, "only way for the alternation" in 2022, during a speech Tuesday evening before the national council of his party.

"Since Sunday evening", at the end of the second round of the municipal elections marked by an ecological breakthrough in the big cities and the maintenance of the PS (re-election in Paris, Lille, Nantes, Rennes, gain of Nancy and Montpellier, loss of Strasbourg and Metz), "we are not looked at in the same way. For the first time in 3 years", the social-ecological block shows "to those who thought they had to relive the match between the liberals and the fachos that there is another path, "said Faure.

According to Mr. Faure, this path is "that of the social-ecological Republic". But (...) do not believe that a red carpet is rolling out under our feet. The right either has not disappeared, it also has its world according to ", for whom" ecology is enough ", he warned.

With the Greens, "we must confront each other to reach a common path. Is ecology soluble in socialism? No. Is socialism soluble in ecology? No. Our struggles complement each other" but "ca will rub on certain subjects ", he warned.

The boss of the PS asked the Greens to "clarify" their "positions". "We will also have to clarify our positions," he insisted.

The deputy for Seine-et Marne also deplored that the idea of ​​a "common campus at the end of the summer" with EELV is "in dry dock". "Environmentalists will have their days, too. At the end of August, we will organize meetings of + the left after +", that of "the rally which is the only way for that to really change", he specified.

Faced with the scattering of the left, Mr. Faure stressed that "no one" was "able to dominate alone".

"After each election, a leftist party thinks it has caught the tail of the Mickey Mouse, that it has the Holy Grail of hegemony. Jean-Luc Mélenchon thought it after the presidential election. It won 6% for the Europeans and was absent in municipal elections, "he said.

"I plead for a common candidate in 2022," reiterated Mr. Faure.

"By reading certain articles, I would have already accepted that he was not a socialist. Nothing is due to us. Nothing is due to anyone. I do not know who will be a candidate" but "I hope it will come from of our ranks, "he also reaffirmed.

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