Raphael Glucksman won the centre-left nomination for French president in the first round with 66% of the vote. The French MEP and leader of the “Place Public“ party will represent the social democratic left in the presidential election in the spring of 2027.
Over 120,000 people took part in the preliminary vote. The number is significantly lower than in 2011, when 2.8 million voters cast ballots in the Socialist Party primary, won by future president François Hollande.
Glucksmann is emerging as a major left-wing rival to far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the “France Unrestrained” party. The MEP opposes an alliance with Mélenchon, while Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure is open to such a partnership.
The challenge facing the center-left
Glucksmann now faces the task of uniting a divided left in a campaign that is increasingly influenced by the far right. The moderate left, led by him, won 14 percent in the 2024 European Parliament elections in France.
Public opinion polls show that Glucksmann could reach the presidential runoff. However, according to the same forecasts, he would lose to the favorite Marine Le Pen, a representative of the far-right party “National Rally“.
His victory in the primary election is a blow to Olivier Faure and his line of rapprochement with Mélenchon. The question remains for Glucksmann whether he will be able to convert the support from the domestic vote into a broader coalition before the presidential campaign.
Sources: bta.bg, internazionale.it