Artisan, for his party, of this agreement concluded in May for the legislative elections between LFI, the PS, EELV and the PCF, Olivier Faure plays in this vote his position but also the future of the union, criticized by his two rivals.

Some 41,000 members can vote for this first round, between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the premises of the sections, in order to choose the next orientation text of the party.

The two candidates whose motions come first will be decided in a second round on the 19th, before a Congress scheduled for January 27 to 29 in Marseille.

The results will not be known until late at night, or even Friday morning.

Difficult to determine how many activists will come to vote, and what will be the balance of power between the three motions.

"Faure will make a significant score," said a socialist senator, "but will he be in the majority?".

“He has the support of the vast majority of the first federals”, abounds a deputy.

If the Nupes agreement made it possible to keep a group of 32 socialist deputies in the Assembly, despite the historic failure in the presidential election of candidate Anne Hidalgo (1.7%), it also deeply divided the PS, leading to departures, like that, emblematic, of the former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, and dissent in the legislative elections.

For Olivier Faure, we must choose "if we are for the rally without exception with the whole left", in order to offer an alternative to the right and the far right, or "for withdrawal".

The deputy of Seine-et-Marne, who can count on the support of many mayors, such as Johanna Rolland (Nantes) - the former campaign director of Anne Hidalgo - and 45 socialist parliamentarians (deputies, senators and European deputies ), does not hide his wish for a common left-wing candidate for the 2027 presidential election.

Her rival Hélène Geoffroy, mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, denounces in the agreement a "subjugation" of the PS to LFI, and wants another union of the left "around a project contract", far from the "noise and fury" of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party.

The socialist mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin (Rhône) and candidate for the post of First Secretary of the Socialist Party Hélène Geoffroy poses in Paris, January 5, 2023 © Martin BUREAU / AFP

Supported by certain "elephants" of the PS, like the mayor of Le Mans Stéphane Le Foll and the ex-First Secretary Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, she promises that the party will leave Nupes if she wins.

"Sterile Guéguerre"

The third suitor, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, mayor of Rouen, asserts himself as "the only one who can unite the socialists", with a "central way".

The Norman elected official, who has the support of ex-presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo and the President of Occitania Carole Delga, describes Nupes as "a losing agreement" and calls for "States General of transformation social and ecological" to "refound the left".

A vague position, according to Olivier Faure.

"How can we be in the union and outside at the same time?".

"It's a question of strategy: is it unity that makes strength, or strength that makes unity?" Asks Senator Patrick Kanner, support of Mr. Mayer-Rossignol, who calls for "being allied rather than aligned" with LFI.

The mayor of Rouen Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol poses in Paris on December 16, 2022 © Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP/Archives

For someone close to Olivier Faure, his competitors "are in denial of the reality of the political situation. The Nupes is not a kind of monster that will devour us, but a space for dialogue on the left".

The vote is scrutinized by the Nupes partners.

If Olivier Faure loses, it will be terrible", estimates an ecologist deputy, while a rebellious elected recognizes that "it will not help us".

After Thursday's vote, will Olivier Faure's two competitors join forces against him?

Some members of the two motions do not exclude the hypothesis.

"It would be the alliance of carp and rabbit", estimates Dieynaba Diop, close to Olivier Faure, recalling that Hélène Geoffroy has always been against Nupes, while Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol voted for the union in May .

But the latter assures that he will call "the other two to come and work with us. We have been in a sterile squabble for too long".

© 2023 AFP