While a congress in Marseille is due to ratify the results of the January 19 militant vote at the end of the week, the outgoing first secretary invited the mayor of Rouen Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol to the party headquarters at 2:00 p.m., as well as Hélène Geoffroy, who could not maintain the second round and called to support the Norman elected.

On leaving, after two and a half hours of a meeting described as "serious", both said they hoped to find an agreement by the Marseille congress.

Saying he wanted to put an end to "a distressing soap opera", Olivier Faure, reported having offered Nicolas-Mayer Rossignol and Hélène Geoffroy a "collegial direction" but not "three or four first secretaries" as they would like in the form of a "directory".

- Mayer-Rossignol refuses the Europeans -

The two men also indicated that the first secretary had proposed to Mr. Mayer-Rossignol the head of the list for the Europeans of 2024, refused by the latter.

The three participants must meet again before the congress after consulting their supporters.

"I'm hopeful that everyone will come to their senses and something positive and collective," said Mayer-Rossignol.

A new count on Sunday gave 51.09% of the vote to the incumbent against 48.91% to his rival.

But Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol calls for the continuation of the recount and denounces "fraud worthy of another time", which Olivier Faure denies.

Already weakened by the historic failure of its presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo (1.7%), the PS has been sinking into crisis since Thursday and the vote of socialist members to appoint their First Secretary.

Olivier Faure assures that his rally line of the left with Nupes, tied in May with LFI, EELV and the PCF, is now in the majority.

"Everyone must admit that a line has emerged and that there is therefore no question of leaving the gathering of the left and environmentalists," he defended in the JDD.

Olivier Faure (G) and Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol at the headquarters of the PS on January 23, 2023 in Ivry-sur-Seine, in the Paris region © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

But "an outgoing management that is on par with a collective that we set up four months ago is not a victory for the outgoing management", underlined Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol on Sunday evening.

The mayor of Rouen, more critical of the Nupes alliance and in particular with Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France Insoumise, wants to modify this union, so that the PS is "allied but not aligned".

Green carpet

“Olivier Faure has never been so weakened”, affirms a support of the elected Norman, promising “a strong opposition against him within the PS, because we will not leave”.

Olivier Faure's entourage wants to believe that the rally is possible.

But, observes a deputy, "those who have lost, even by a small head, must recognize their defeat and find a political agreement".

For him, "Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol is also losing feathers, and getting damaged" in this battle.

Olivier Faure at the headquarters of the PS on January 23, 2023 in Ivry-sur-Seine, in the Paris region © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

"There is no path to victory on the green carpet for Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol", because "not a scenario" gives him victory, says Christophe Clergeau, a close friend of Olivier Faure, even if we delete the votes of the section of Liévin (Pas-de-Calais), particularly targeted by the mayor of Rouen for its "irregularities".

He underlines that Olivier Faure proposed "a direction open to the different sensibilities of the party", by proposing for example that Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol be "associated with the strategic orientations, in particular for the European ones".

© 2023 AFP