The new national secretary takes the reins of a party in crisis after the disappointing result of Yannick Jadot in the presidential election (4.6%), but also entangled in a duel between the ex-candidate and the ecofeminist deputy Sandrine Rousseau, and finally in the turmoil of accusations of psychological violence against an ex-companion brought against the outgoing national secretary Julien Bayou, who denies it.

The motion of synthesis that she proposed, and which brings together around her line her other competitors, won 90.8% of the votes of the 400 Congress delegates.

At 36, Marine Tondelier, from the outgoing management, aims to refound EELV - whose name she wishes to change - by modifying its internal rules, often considered complex and not conducive to the conquest of power.

The elected northerner, who defends a "popular ecology", wishes to "massify" the party and bring together a million environmental sympathizers by the end of her mandate.

His victory is not a surprise, since his motion came well ahead of the first round, on November 26, with 47% of the votes of the members.

This former parliamentary assistant to Cécile Duflot, close to the mayor of Grenoble Eric Piolle, has been elected since 2014 in opposition to the mayor RN Steeve Briois in Hénin-Beaumont, a former mining town where she lives and where her parents and grandparents are from. -parents.

She has also been sitting since 2021 in opposition to the Regional Council of Hauts-de-France chaired by Xavier Bertrand (LR).

The new national secretary of EELV, Marine Tondelier, on December 10, 2022 in Rungis © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

"He is someone who does not come from a metropolis, can make a different voice heard and who has a long fight against the RN", greets Kelim Ledun, 27-year-old Pas-de-Calais delegate.

"She is collective, pugnacious, and determined", underlined Yannick Jadot, who "is part of her political line, the ecology of responsibility".

After several days of negotiations, Marine Tondelier gathered around her four of her competitors, all women, two of whom had obtained more than 10% in the first round: Sophie Bussière (18%), close to Yannick Jadot, and Mélissa Camara (13.5%), supported by Sandrine Rousseau and part of the left wing of EELV.

But the national secretary, who campaigned on the "collective" by denouncing the internal quarrels which divide the party, will not have succeeded in saving herself from internal tensions.

"Pledges of solidarity"

After having left the discussions for a time, the team of Mélissa Camara, who advocates "rupture and radicalism", is finally part of the management.

At the heart of the negotiations in particular, the distribution of the 15 positions.

The Tondelier line obtains 8, including a deputy national secretary, François Thiollet, and a spokesperson, Aminata Niakaté, head of ecologists at the Council of Paris.

The ex-motion of Sophie Bussière obtains 3 positions (including that of spokesperson for Ms. Bussière), that of Mélissa Camara 2 positions (Ms. Camara will be in charge of training and mobilization).

Claire Desmares, who carried one of the motions, becomes deputy national secretary, and Hélène Hardy, who defended another text, is in charge of popular ecology.

Judging that the line was clearly chosen in the first round, Marine Tondelier had laid down her requirements: the summary motion was based on her initial motion.

She promises an independent EELV list to the Europeans of 2024 and, without rejecting the Nupes, wants to give priority to the creation of a "great movement of political ecology".

A sensitive point for the team of Mélissa Camara, who defends the possibility of a common left list for Europeans.

Marine Tondelier also called on her partners for "pledges of solidarity", believing that representing the party means not criticizing it from the outside.

The conditions were finally accepted by all: "We have very little time left to deal with climate issues," said Mélissa Camara to AFP.

"We all have to work together to win the cultural battle".

© 2022 AFP