Presidential: Christiane Taubira, a candidacy and a lot of uncertainties

Published on : 01/31/2022 – 11:49

She was the arch-favorite of a primary which was not one and of which she was the only real candidate in power. Christiane Taubira was invested, Sunday, January 30, by the 392,738 voters of the popular Primary and signed in the evening the “gathering contract” submitted by the organizers. This urges him to do everything possible to unite the left before the first round of the presidential election on 10 April. A challenge just 70 days from the deadline for a candidate who will very quickly have to raise several questions.

• A candidacy more on the left?

By winning the Popular Primary, Christiane Taubira has therefore become the seventh left-wing candidate in the presidential election. While the citizens’ initiative aimed to reduce the number of applications and unite this political family, his name is added to those of Nathalie Arthaud, Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Philippe Poutou and Fabien Roussel .

The former member of French Guiana may present herself as a unifier, it is difficult to imagine what could push candidates who have been in the race for the Élysée for many weeks to join a candidate whom the polls have so far given around by 5%. Asked about television sets on Sunday evening, Yannick Jadot on TF1, then Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Anne Hidalgo on France 5, all three brushed aside the call for union by candidate Taubira, content to note that she was “one more candidacy”.

The entourage of the former minister knows that the winds are against them, but nevertheless hopes that her victory in the popular Primary will create a dynamic which could push Anne Hidalgo, in great difficulty in the polls, to withdraw, and Yannick Jadot to reflect .

>> To see: “They will not vote in the presidential election: these French people disenchanted with politics”

By designating the ex-keeper of the Seals of François Hollande, the voters of the popular Primary have above all chosen a symbol, failing to vote for a program. Because beyond a few campaign axes mentioned during her official declaration of candidacy, on January 15, Christiane Taubira still does not have a detailed program to propose.

However, this is the main argument put forward by Jean-Luc Mélenchon or Yannick Jadot to reject the principle of the Popular Primary from the start: unity on the left cannot be achieved without programmatic agreement.

During her first candidacy for the presidential election, in 2002, under the label of the Radical Left Party (PRG), Christiane Taubira notably proposed the establishment of a strong presidential regime, lower taxes for the richest, the abolition of social security contributions financing health insurance and came out in favor of a federal European Union. Proposals rather in line with the current line of power. Similarly, during the five-year term of François Hollande, Christiane Taubira did not leave the government for differences of opinion in economic matters, like Arnaud Montebourg or Benoît Hamon, but on the question of the forfeiture of nationality. . Where is the candidate today? Left-leaning voters will have to wait a little longer to find out precisely.

>> To read also: “In Nantes, Jean-Luc Mélenchon appeals to the senses and traces his route alone”

• As in 2002, a testimonial candidacy?

In this context, can Christiane Taubira’s candidacy lead to something other than a testimonial candidacy? In 2002, she won 2.32% of the vote, participating at the same time in the elimination of Lionel Jospin. Twenty years later, her law on marriage for all has allowed her to become an icon on the left, but will that be enough to put her in orbit?

Evoking a “democratic process”, “the broadest base of legitimacy on the left in terms of designation” and “a citizen’s will to unite”, Christiane Taubira estimated, Monday January 31 on franceinfo, that her victory in the popular Primary “changes gives it”.

Those close to him are aware, however, that the hardest part is beginning and that the next few days will be decisive. They hope that the next polls, “between February 5 and 10”, will show that “it enjoys a strong capital of support and enthusiasm in the country”. “If the result is frank and massive, it will shake certainties”, they analyze, convinced that the defections will accumulate in the coming days in the Hidalgo camp, in difficulty around 3% of the voting intentions, and the Jadot camp, also stuck between 5 and 7%.

>> To consult: “Candidates for the presidential election”