Editorial. The Socialist Party at a congress in Nancy to find its bearings

The Socialist Party no longer truly inspires support. Nor, in fact, does it provoke disapproval. No, it simply exists. Imposed in French political life. Smooth as a marble statue, it has more memories than projects. Incapable of reinventing itself, it keeps going. Like its First Secretary, Olivier Faure , who deserves neither laurels nor snubs. In short, as their 81st congress begins in Nancy, the French Socialists are still in a waiting position. An emollient "at the same time" that petrifies them. It's not easy to find one's way without a compass or guiding principle. The heart still beats to the left, the head wanders in the center, and the legs, however, do not advance, awaiting the outcome of the sibylline deliberations between the ideal and pragmatism.

Cornered on its left by the Insoumis who irritate it, the Socialist Party is blocked on its right by a Macronie eager to swallow it whole. So its political course constantly changes, with the swell. And the Socialists look, with a touch of jealousy, at their colleagues and adversaries in LR. Ah, Les Républicains! They were doing as badly as one can after a catastrophic presidential election, famished legislative elections, and defections at every level. But now they are reinvigorated, at the center of the game, pumped up like a frog dreaming of being a bull. How did they achieve this feat? By returning without hesitation to their core business. Security, security, and security. Simple, effective, a tad demagogic, but understandable to all. During this Nancy interlude, the Socialists, too, will have to seek out—and rediscover?—their cardinal virtue. The one that allows for immediate identification, eventual approval, and the possibility of a future. The municipal elections are approaching, and so is the presidential election: the Socialist Party no longer has the luxury of drowning, as it often does, in its own currents.