First modification:
As reported by the Secretary General of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, was appointed this Thursday, October 14, a candidate of the formation with the support of more than 72% of the members of the Socialist Party to compete in the presidential elections of 2022.
The mayor of Paris will seek to do better. She wants to surpass the performance of Benoît Hamon towards the race for the Elíseo in 2017. Hidalgo was designated by the Socialist Party (PS) to be its candidate in the presidential elections of 2022 this Thursday night, according to the partial results published by the party after an internal vote.
According to the data of more than 90% of the votes counted, Anne Hidalgo, widely favored, obtained more than 72%, compared to her only opponent, the mayor of Le Mans, Stéphane le Foll. The first secretary, Olivier Faure, indicated that it is an “irreversible result”.
In a statement before dozens of militants and supporters, such as Stéphane Troussel, president of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, and Rémi Féraud, senator of Paris, Anne Hidalgo assured that: “We are all mobilized to prepare a change of government, we are going to it”.
“I am aware of my responsibility,” said the mayor of Paris, stating that she was “proud and honored” to wear the colors of her party. “I wear the colors of a left-wing government,” “which assumes the exercise of power and responsibilities,” he added.
A campaign that promises to be “difficult”
The polls give Anne Hidalgo between 4% and 7% of the votes, she had run for the candidacy for the 2022 elections without waiting for this investiture. Despite being an expected result after having been supported for months by Olivier Faure.
During the recent PS congress, the latter also judged that the candidate “would probably have a very large majority.”
After praising the “silent strength” of Anne Hidalgo, Faure acknowledged that the campaign will be “difficult” and that “nobody wants us to win.” However, he assured that they will accompany the candidate.
Stéphane Le Foll has no illusions: “The mass is said,” he admitted to the AFP news agency. In addition, he denounced the lack of debate with the mayor of Paris, whose project he considers “incoherent” and “indefinite.”
Anne Hidalgo invited him to join her campaign, appealing that “her in-laws need her” and also “her commitment.”
The party will hold an investiture convention on October 23 in Lille, the stronghold of Martine Aubry, its political mentor. Day in which there will be a first meeting to sound out the “collective mobilization”, with some heavyweights from the PS. But without François Lamy, former minister of François Hollande, who announced that he will join the campaign of Yannick Jadot, a direct competitor.
The French city of Lille will “bring together the different generations of the socialist family,” said its campaign manager, Johanna Rolland.
A discreet start to the campaign
Anne Hidalgo’s opponents believe she has failed in the presidential race. In fact, the former minister of the Republican party (LR), Rachida Dati, mocked the full Paris Council saying that Hidalgo’s is “a desperate electoral campaign.”
For her part, the mayor of Paris has been quite discreet since the formalization of her candidacy on September 12 in Rouen. Her supporters defend her, saying her campaign started “quietly” but promise “growth in potential.”
However, Olivier Faure warned: “Starting next weekend, there will be posters, flyers (especially in Île-de-France). I hope that the entry of the Socialists into the campaign will produce some effects.”
In Anne Hidalgo’s environment, she ensures that there is “no type of concern” about her candidacy. While on the environmental side, some already dream of seeing her alongside Yannick Jadot, who is currently slightly above the polls.
“The bet we make is that in the end we will ask ourselves, on the left, who is prepared to govern. Anne Hidalgo is the only one who meets these qualities,” adds Olivier Faure. The mayor of Paris herself assures that “it will go to the end.”
* Adapted from its original in French
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