SIGNIFICANT HURDLES FACE THE FRENCH SOCIALIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 001242 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV FR SUBJECT: SIGNIFICANT HURDLES FACE THE FRENCH SOCIALIST PARTY PRIOR TO 2010 ELECTIONS Classified By: PolMin Counselor Kathleen Allegrone for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: A Socialist Party (PS) identity crisis continues. Efforts to unify the party have failed so far to stem the feud between those who want to move the PS toward the center and those who cling to hard left views. Perhaps too comfortable in their control over the majority of regional councils, the PS could ruin its chances in the 2012 presidential contest if leaders fail to address divisive issues prior to the 2010 regional elections. Doubts about PS First Secretary Martine Aubry's leadership pervade in the ranks as intraparty sniping regularly makes the news. While young PS members are seeking to take a page from President Obama's successful 2008 campaign and attempt a grass roots mobilization operation, we see few signs that the PS, at this point, would mount an effective opposition to Sarkozy. THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS--A BLOW TO THE PS -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) The Socialist Party's crushing defeat in the June 7 European Parliamentary (EP) election exacerbated the internecine bickering in PS leadership. The PS received less than 17 percent of the vote, far below the party's 29 percent result in the last general election. Vincent Peillon, a top party insider, publicly characterized the result as "another April 21," a reference to the Socialist's devastating third place finish in the 2002 presidential election. One of Strasbourg's Socialist Party deputy-mayors told political officers on June 8 that the party's loss is attributable to three factors: a continued fissure among the top party leadership; the lack of a "skillful" PS campaign to take advantage of the economic downturn; and the strong showing by the Greens. ¶3. (C) The EP election called into question Martine Aubry's effectiveness as party leader. Another significant loss in the upcoming regional elections could jeopardize Aubry's legitimacy. But, Aubry showed a fighting spirit during the PS's party convention August 29-30 in La Rochelle. Many notable PS members over the summer publicly criticized Aubry's leadership of the party-PS deputies Manuel Valls, a rising star within the party, Arnaud Montebourg, and former Culture Minister Jack Lang among others. Recently, however, key PS members and Aubry critics, such as Paris Mayor Delanoe, Jean- Louis Bianco, and Lyon regional powerhouse Gerald Collomb, put aside their personal grievances to rally around Aubry at the August 29 convention. Even bitter rival Segolene Royal, the former presidential candidate who lost to Aubry in a bid for the PS leadership post last year, has abstained from criticizing the party's internal affairs and Aubry's leadership, in a last ditch effort to maintain a semblance of party unity in the run-up to the 2010 election. PARTY DIVIDED OVER DIRECTION -------------- ¶4. (C) The EP elections exposed the deep cleavages within the PS, including how to solve France's current economic and social problems. Socialist Party Foreign Policy Advisor, Christophe Borgel, told us in late July the party is bitterly divided between those who want the party to move toward a more centrist social democratic model and those who want to maintain a more traditional leftist approach. ¶5. (C) Party members are divided over two main proposals-holding open primaries and creating alliances-that are intended to jump-start the party and attract popular support. The issue of open primaries is so divisive, it risks killing the PS, according to PS deputy Valls. The open primary would allow both card-carrying members and PS supporters to designate the PS presidential candidate, like in the U.S. or Italian systems. One proposal would allow other center-right parties, including the centrist MoDem, to participate in the PS primary. Supporters of the idea say that opening the vote to the entire left would increase their candidate's legitimacy, but at the risk of a non-PS candidate winning the nomination. ¶6. (C) At the La Rochelle summit, Aubry reluctantly endorsed PARIS 00001242 002 OF 003 open primaries, after prodding of PS insiders, who believe open primaries are the best way to unite the left. Influential Paris Mayor Bernard Delanoe also supports open primaries as an element of PS renewal "because they present solutions to our credibility and leadership crisis." According to a Viavoice poll conducted for Liberation in August, the French public is more and more convinced that open primaries would be the appropriate way of selecting the socialist presidential candidate. From March to August, support for open primaries increased by 10 percent to 67 percent. ¶7. (C) Possible winners within the party in open primaries include Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who has support among the centrists and is very popular on the right; Segolene Royal, who remains a popular figure among other leftist; and Manuel Valls, who has positioned himself as an alternative to Aubry. ¶8. (C) Like the issue of open primaries, creating electoral alliances is fueling divisions. The idea of giving up traditional alliances and uniting with non-left parties in the run-up to the regional election, such as the center Modem or the Greens, does not sit well with PS hardliners. In a rhetorical flourish during her opening remarks at the party summit, Aubry publicly questioned Democratic Movement (MoDem) leader Francois Bayrou's intention if he formed an alliance with the PS. Vincent Peillon, regarded by some as the Socialist Party's great thinker, is a proponent of allying with non-left parties as a means of developing an effective opposition to Sarkozy. Peillon gathered the Greens, the Modem, the Communist Party (PCF),and the Radical Left parties at a convention he sponsored the weekend before the PS summit in La Rochelle to work with the PS to develop solutions to the country's problems-focusing on public services, education, hospitals, and retirement. ¶9. (C) The subject of alliances for regional elections has created a buzz at other party congresses, but with no concrete results yet. With their surprisingly strong showing (16 percent) in the EP election, the Greens will run on an separate list for the first round. In an August 12 radio interview, Greens National Secretary Cecile Duflot said publicly the party remains open to an alliance in the second round. During the Greens party summit on August 22, party leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit suggested allying with MoDem in the second round of regional elections. Both parties, as well as the Communist Party, have declined to join the PS list in the first round of primaries. Without a party platform, the PS seems to be having a difficult time attracting other parties to join the PS alliance. ¶10. (C) Offering an alternative perspective, President Sarkozy Advisor Alain Minc told the Ambassador on September 8 that the left has a base of support that delivered 47 percent of the vote to PS presidential candidate Segolene Royal in 2007. Minc said that Sarkozy might make gaffes in the next two years that could jeopardize his re-election, but he observed that the left is in disarray and the Socialists are not well-placed to win the election in 2012. COMMENT -------------- ¶11. (C) The PS has larger hurdles than alliances or hammering out details on open primaries. Efforts to paper over the Aubry-Royal rivalry seem tepid at best. Leading French intellectual and Sarkozy's personal advisor, Alain Minc, told us in early September that long-time friend Aubry had assumed the helm of the PS to "stop" Royal. Internal feuds aside, the PS must also work to attract young voters and women. Young PS members are urging a grass-roots effort, taking their cue from the success last year of the Obama campaign. One of the party's biggest hopes for success in the PARIS 00001242 003 OF 003 regional elections rests on its young leaders, who won mayoralties in 2008 and who, through appeals to their local electorates, might be able to boost the party's prospects in March. RIVKIN