Left-wing primary: the idea of a single candidate is in jeopardy
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With his proposal for a "geyser primary" to unite the left in 2027, François Ruffin thought he was making a splash. But his proposal has met with resounding rejections, from Raphaël Glucksmann to LFI, with everyone rejecting the idea of a single candidate.
François Ruffin is no stranger to making dramatic statements. Since the dissolution of the government last June, whenever he reappears in the media, it's always to kick the left into overdrive. This Wednesday, May 21, Ruffin found himself on the front page of the newspaper Libération , calling for a major left-wing primary.
A "primary geyser ," more precisely, "which is not just a tiebreaker election, but a moment of overflow," he pleaded, and which would go "from Philippe Poutou to François Hollande." He has even already imagined the workings and established the timetable: the putative candidates will have to gather 100,000 citizen sponsorships and 250 mayors, make a profession of faith centered on ten ideas for a two-round election with a call for candidates in April 2026 and a vote in the fall. It's packed, it's weighed!
Except that the parliamentarian, who has been sitting in the Assembly within the Green group since distancing himself from La France Insoumise, has not been a hit this time. Worse, his proposal, beyond the small circle of advocates of unity, has received only the sound of slamming doors as a response. This Sunday, May 25, Raphaël Glucksmann chose the newspaper Le Monde to address him with a firm refusal . "I will be clear once and for all: there will be no joint candidacy with Jean-Luc Mélenchon. We are in direct contradiction on so many issues (...) I will not participate in a primary," explained the MEP.
Buoyed by the results of the last European elections, where he brought the socialist list he led into third place with 13.83% of the vote, just ahead of the one led by the Insoumise candidate Manon Aubry, Raphaël Glucksmann now believes he is on a par with Jean-Luc Mélenchon : "On the left, there are two dominant and clear poles. One is structured around La France Insoumise. We began to structure the other during the European elections. This generated enthusiasm. This is the path we must continue together." This hypothesis is reinforced by certain polls that place him at a voting intention level very close to the Insoumise leader for the first round of the 2027 presidential election.
On the rebel side, the reception is just as frosty. This Saturday, May 24, on France Inter, Éric Coquerel, LFI deputy and president of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, also rejected the idea out of hand. " Why is a primary not possible? François Ruffin said: "Me, if it's Hollande or Glucksmann who wins, I'll line up behind them." Which seems absurd to me! I vote for a program. And if the idea is to remake Hollande, a program of accommodation..." , then without him, he explained.
Why is a left-wing primary not possible?
First, we vote for a program. I will never accept that we withdraw for a candidate from the accommodating left, and I understand that Mr. Glucksman cannot do the same for a candidate from the radical left.… pic.twitter.com/4nlLCNeUsy
And to drive the point home, Éric Coquerel took great care to outline the contours of his left, the one he claims to be, "a left of rupture, one that does not propose a return to the Hollande years (...) one that is for nationalizing Arcelor " , de facto excluding Glucksmann from its scope, the latter believing that "nationalization is not the solution" .
Fabien Roussel, the secretary general of the French Communist Party, is not much more enthusiastic. "It's not my cup of tea (...) to devote my energy to this today," he told the press after an interview lasting more than an hour with the Prime Minister on Thursday, May 22, as part of a series of consultations between political forces on the proportional election of deputies. The debate on a possible primary can wait, according to him, "the priority is first of all to fight so that bills go down and salaries go up."
The other representatives of the left have either remained silent or offered timid support. François Ruffin can still count on Marine Tondelier, the leader of the ecologists, who is striving to impose the very principle of unity, because according to her, "our duty to remember and our duty to hope cry out the same demand: the unity of the left - of the whole left - and, at its heart, ecology," as she stated in a text published on May 17 in La Tribune du dimanche .
A unity that could be carried by the initiative launched last December with Lucie Castets, Gagnons ensemble , the first stage of which should materialize by a gathering of "all progressive sensibilities who would like to build an alternative together" , on July 2. But which is already in trouble, LFI and Place publique, Glucksmann's movement, having already announced that they will not be attending...
Barely out of the egg, the idea of a primary to bring out a single candidate on the left already seems obsolete. Even François Ruffin seems to have resigned himself to it. In the Backseat program broadcast live on Twitch the day after his interview in Libération , the director of Merci Patron! somewhat redefined his initial ambition: "Will there be a joint candidacy? It's possible. Will there be a single candidacy from the left in 2027? No." A resignation tinged with optimism, since he believes that, despite everything, "with two candidates, we still have a chance of qualifying for the second round."
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