Europe 1 with AFP 6:39 p.m., March 27, 2022
Lionel Jospin announced his support for Anne Hidalgo on Sunday.
The former Socialist Prime Minister has announced that he will vote for the candidate and Mayor of Paris in the presidential election in order to promote "a renaissance of the ideas of democratic socialism".
Former Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, "placed in front of a divided left", will vote in the first round of the presidential election for PS candidate Anne Hidalgo, this historic figure of the PS announced to AFP on Sunday.
"In this very special presidential election, some are wondering and questioning me about my position. I want to clarify it here", wrote Lionel Jospin in a brief press release.
"In the first round, on April 10, placed in front of a divided left, I will vote for Anne Hidalgo, the candidate presented by the Socialist Party of which I am a member", he continues: "I wish that tomorrow the chances of a revival of the ideas of democratic socialism. In the uncertain period to come, France will need it.".
Lionel Jospin, aged 84, was between 1997 and 2002 the cohabitation Prime Minister of Jacques Chirac, at the head of a "plural" left majority.
He also led the PS during the first presidential term of François Mitterrand (1981-1988).
Ube difficult campaign for Anne Hidalgo
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is going through a difficult presidential campaign.
Polls give him between 2% and 4% of voting intentions.
Among the former figures of her party, she received long discreet support from former President François Hollande (2012-2017).
If the former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve took the head of the support committee for the candidate, his predecessor Manuel Valls called on him to vote for Emmanuel Macron.