Angry and worried, Manuel Valls is preparing to be an appeal to the left – The World

After the shock caused by the book, ” A president should not say that… “, the prime minister is considering any eventuality, including that of a defection of François Hollande.

World | 28.10.2016 at 06h40 • updated 28.10.2016 at 21h08 | By Bastien Bonnefous (Bordeaux, special envoy)

He steps on a volcano, but it works. Manuel Valls knows that, in the current context to the left, it must weigh each of his words, because ” the ground is slippery, the flammable material “, ” he says. The matter, it is the explosion that is created in the PS by the publication of the book ” A president should not say that… “ (Inventory). This book, largely fuelled by revelations of president François Hollande to journalists in the World Gérard Davet and Fabrice, the Man has dealt a hard blow to the image of the head of State, and with him to all the building socialist, to six months of the presidential election.

The 672 pages of the book have caused the ” anger “ of the prime minister – he recognizes – and a form of ” shame “, according to him, among the activists and the elected socialists. the ” This is what I feel, it should not be silent and always name things “, says the head of the government, Thursday, October 27, in the plane that carries it in the Gironde. Mr. Valls doesn’t hide it : he is caught between his loyalty to Mr. Holland in respect of the institutional balance, but also its obligation to hold the bar in the storm. the ” The country has need of incarnation “, ” he says, referring to purpose the word used Tuesday to mps in PS by Claude Bartolone, the president of the national Assembly, which determines that Mr. Holland embodies most accurately the function presidential election.

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For the prime minister, the next five weeks are going to be ” decisive to the left of government “. They will demonstrate if the head of State, who is to say the beginning of December, if he does or not, is able to regain connection with his majority and with the French. the ” The book caused a shock, a tax allowance in parliament, it has acted as a developer “, said Mr. Valls. If the fire is not quickly extinguished, it is ” the fate of the reformist left that plays itself “, is cause for alarm there. Because it can be ” atomised ” to the presidential ” leave History “.

re-Centering to the left

So, yes, the prime minister is preparing, but not to prevent Mr. Holland, he says. Rather, to deal with all eventualities, including that of a defection of the president of the Republic, summarizing :

” because of the current political situation, I feel that I have a real responsibility to get out the best out of this period very dangerous. “

To move forward, Mr. Valls has launched an operation to re-align to the left. It evokes now in his speeches a secularism that is more inclusive and less clivante. He calls, as Saturday, October 22, at Tours, in the ” rally ” to the left, when he spoke there are still few months of ” left irreconcilable “. Wednesday, at Bordeaux, he again touted the universal income, which will be experienced by the department of the girondin, a ” a concrete utopia linked to the left of the social progress “.

Tactician, he also displayed all afternoon with Alain Rousset, socialist president of the New-Aquitaine (Aquitaine – Limousin – Poitou-Charentes), in the midst of the cold war local with Ségolène Royal, on the background of the financial management of the former region of Poitou-Charentes. It is good, the name of the minister of ecology keeps coming up as a competitor possible of Mr. Valls, if he had to compete in January at the primary of the PS…

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” I do not ignore your discomfort “

But the prime minister has had trouble establishing itself as a remedy indisputable. His polls are as low as those of the head of State, and parliamentary socialists, if they do not think less of Mr. Holland, do not yet seem willing to join the savior of the prime minister.

Then, on Thursday evening, before the militants of the section PS in Merignac, Mr. Valls wanted to show that he is ready to fight until the end for his political family. the ” I am convinced that nothing is yet lost for 2017, we need to wake up “, their lance-t-il. It boasts the record of his government and multiplies the attacks. Against the FN, which ” the hatred of France “. Against the right, of which ” the proposals are for the most part rejected by the French because they do not fit the republican model and social of our country “.

He did not evade any subject, not even the case in Holland. the ” I do not ignore your discomfort, he said the militants. Who will be the candidate ? Can the president represent ? These issues exist, you’re talking to. It is necessary to solve them, and me, as prime minister, I take my share. You can count on me. The pride and the hope, I have to resell and I want tomorrow to lead you. “

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