May 29, 2005, represents the first victory of the French anti-liberal left. It energized all the activists on the left who were against the referendum, those who campaigned to oppose, and who now campaign to win. It is this left that Marie-George Buffet tried to convince on Wednesday evening at the Palais Acropolis in Nice, the left of the collectives formed after May 29, composed of the Alternatifs, the Greens, and a minority part of the Revolutionary Communist League.
Make no mistake: Marie-George is campaigning. Wednesday in Nice, Thursday in Martigues, she seeks to seduce for the upcoming anti-liberal left primaries on December 9 and 10. Her adversaries are also pounding the pavement, meeting with activists, criticizing precariousness. They are Clémentine Autain (a PCF-associated deputy mayor of Paris), the alter-globalization activist José Bové, Patrick Braouezec (communist deputy of Saint-Denis), and Yves Salesse from the Copernic Foundation. The hope of convincing Olivier Besancenot is alive. More so among the militants than with Marie-George. The LCR’s mailman’s popularity is significant. She will have to fight. But it is not a word that scares her. Quite the opposite.
Marie-George Buffet was moved by her visit to housing in Antibes. There, she met women living in extremely precarious conditions in the department led by “Sarkozist Estrosi who follows his master of ultra-liberalism and repression.” Shortly before taking the stage, she confided to us: “I will listen and take into account what is said during this meeting.” She listened, nodded, sometimes discreetly furrowed her brow during the panel where various representatives of the azure collectives expressed themselves, followed by the not yet convinced but sympathetic spectators. A common denominator: anti-liberalism, a second: anti-Sarkozy, a third: gathering. There are concerns nonetheless. The question of the ideal candidate for this anti-liberal left is asked. The collectives do not like the parties and even less their leader. Marie-George will have to reassure them. She will manage to do so. She legitimizes the usefulness of the collectives by asking them to do even more. She addresses them solemnly: “Victory depends on you. The more of you there are, the better it will be to make collective decisions. It’s worth putting enthusiasm into it and going for it!”
Behind her lectern, she harangues, moves about, generates attention. One word: Urgency. “Urgency to defeat the right, urgency to act, urgency for all the fights against liberalism.” She strongly criticizes Nicolas Sarkozy, the “little Bush,” for his domestic policy and visit to the United States. The national secretary of the PCF attacks the Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy: “I would have liked to hear him condemn Israel’s deadly aggression instead of praising the positive effects of the wall’s construction.” After the right, it’s the turn for the Royal left: “If the socialist liberal left wins, the right will be worse in 2012.” The former minister from the Jospin government (note: at the Ministry of Youth and Sports from 1997 to 2002) returns to the word “democracy”: “I don’t like the adjectives that accompany this word. I want a full democracy.” A blunt attack against all those who speak of participatory democracy, opinion democracy. She describes her program: minimum wage at €1500, public housing service, regularization of undocumented migrants with voting rights for foreigners living in France, universal social security by removing exemptions for big companies, employees having as much power as shareholders… The skeptics might use the word utopia. To which she would reply: “There needs to be tax reform to make useless money useful. VAT is 45% of the state’s revenue. Income tax is 17%, and corporate tax 15%. It’s politically incorrect, but we must change because it’s unfair. This program is not utopian. It’s what needs to be done.” Even Nicolas Hulot is criticized: “Ecology is not apolitical.” She suggests he makes a political determination.
Marie-George Buffet wants to ride the wave of confidence from her troops, keeping their morale intact after May 29: “We are the majority in France. Those who want things to change are the majority.” Did this speech win them over? Will she be the candidate of the anti-liberal left and the collectives? The answer on December 10th. She would then have time to embark on another campaign: the race for voters, including the disillusioned ones from the PS and its internal struggle, hoping to be in the second round.
