Socialist Party

The 'reconstructors' of France’s Socialist Party

Thursday 19 June 2008

Divisions within the Socialist Party are getting more complex. There’s defeated candidate Ségolène Royal on one hand, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë on another, and now an ad hoc coalition of “reconstructors.”

“The Reims Congress (the Socialist Party conference to be held in November) is doomed from the start,” Jean-Christophe Cambadélis exclaimed during FRANCE 24’s Politics programme. The Socialist deputy from Paris, close to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, added, “It’s screwed… especially if there is a confrontation between Delanoë and Royal.”

However, a new group has emerged hoping to avoid a confrontation. These “reconstructors” have formed an alliance between rival groups within the Socialist Party. It is made up of people close to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Laurent Fabius, Arnaud Montebourg and Martine Aubry. “It’s like mixing carp and rabbits,” explained Vincent Peillon, a Socialist close to former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal, on the French news channel LCI on June 12.

Roselyne Febvre, FRANCE 24’s specialist on French politics believes that, “the reconstructors bring together all spheres of influence.” She added, “There are the supporters of Fabius, who moved to the left during the referendum and want to reach out to blue-collar masses. There are the Strauss-Kahn’s supporters, who represent the core social-democratic electorate. And on top of it all there is Arnaud Montebourg – it’s not very clear where he stands anymore. The main argument of the reconstructors is this: we would rather agree on platform than on a person. And Martine Aubry is their leader for the time being.”

“If we cannot get along…”

The reconstructors alliance is, above all, a strategy to dethrone Delanoë and Royal, explained Carl Meeus, political reporter for the French newspaper Figaro. “The initial step, as we see it, it to wait. Especially as they don’t want to hand the party too early to Bertrand Delanoë or Ségolène Royal.”

But how will the reconstructors manage the ambitions of its individual members? What about Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who ran unsuccessfully in the Socialist primaries in 2007?

Jean-Christophe Cambadélis justifies the alliance: “If we cannot get along, the party cannot get along. One tries to create a dynamic synthesis, to create a new center of gravity.” When asked by FRANCE 24 whether he isn’t in fact getting ready to promote Dominique Strauss-Kahn to the head of the reconstructors, Jean-Christophe Cambadélis avoided the question: “That’s not the issue for the moment.”

“Martine and I like each other”

The boundaries between the various Socialist factions are still not well-defined a year after the Ségolène Royal lost the presidential election, especially the line between the reconstructors and Bertrand Delanoë. The line is likely to be determined depending on the ability of the mayor of Paris to ally himself with Martine Aubry. Both were close to Lionel Jospin in the 1990s.

Bertrand Delanoë did not specify his position this week outside the Paris city council: “Martine and I like each other, we have similar political positions.” He added, in an obvious wink to the reconstructors, that he wishes “to help build a clear, solid majority without confusion.”