Dear Anne Hidalgo,
Dear Yannick Jadot,
Dear Jean-Luc Melenchon,
Dear Christiane Taubira,
No, you are not our enemies. Yes, we want the victory of ecology and social justice. Yes, we wish your victory.
For more than a year, everywhere in France, we have organized ourselves, we have marched, we towed, we have met all of you, we have even held sit-ins in front of your parties to challenge you.
With the popular Primary, it is the first time that a citizens' movement has entered the political arena to such an extent. The first time that a citizens' movement has offered to organize a decision-making process for the presidential election on its own. The first time that a citizens' movement has brought together 300,000 people on an electoral issue. The first time that a citizens' movement will campaign without being a political party. The first time that a citizens' movement will support a presidential candidate without being part of his team.
Why ? Because we know we have no choice. In 2027 it will be too late. Too late for ecology and for young people, too late for carers, farmers and teachers, too late for people who are discriminated against and women victims of violence. In short, too late for those who struggle on a daily basis and who worry about their future and that of their children. We want our lives to change now.
Who are we? Young people, and not so young people too, who still believe that politics can concretely change our lives , despite our disappointments and sometimes even our disgust. We are your most loyal voters. We have led a number of battles by your side: for the climate, for pensions, against the reform of unemployment insurance... Since we have had the right to vote, we have supported "rebellious" candidates from the first rounds. , ecologists or socialists.
So yes, we talk to you about gathering all day and you must be fed up. It is not for pleasure that we do it and that we end up having to put pressure on you as on the dynamics in the polls or even the sponsorships, by supporting the approach of elected officials who freeze these sponsorships as long as the conditions for the gathering are not met. Let's be honest: if we hadn't, would you have even for a moment paid attention to our call? Or, on the contrary, would we have ended up in the cemetery of the initiatives that you describe as “care bears” , utopians or even “citizenists” ?
As you know, alongside a powerful mobilization force and an ambitious and coherent project, unity is an essential ingredient for winning this election. We don't want “the gathering for the sake of the gathering” . Nor “unity for unity” . We want to unite to win. And you know, this gathering cannot be reduced to the adage “the gathering yes, but behind me” .
If our strategy is not the right one, then offer us an alternative.
For months, we have said publicly and repeatedly that if you could find a path without us to a gathering capable of creating a winning momentum, we would stop everything and applaud wholeheartedly. Each in your own way, you tried: Jean-Luc, when you proposed a “popular federation” to bring together the left and environmentalists; Yannick, when you organized a conclave with various leaders of the left and environmentalists last April; Anne, when you proposed a primary from the left; Christiane, when you announced that you recognized a priori the verdict of the popular Primary vote.
But none of these attempts are enough to win today.
So what do we do ? We stop everything, we go home, we watch you beat yourself up while ecology and social justice fall by the wayside from the debates of this presidential election, at the risk of coming to swell the ranks of abstainers next April? And what will we do on the evening of the first round? Will we rewatch the film of everything we could have done to prevent this?
Today, we are more than 320,000 people registered to vote in the popular Primary. More than double the voters in the primary of one of our real opponents: the right.
So why don't you let us, your voters, be the justice of the peace between you?
Since our launch a year and a half ago, if we listened to the rumours, one day we would be a bunch of climate activists worthy of Greta Thunberg, the next day the only ones capable of allowing Mélenchon to establish his candidacy definitively and find the hundreds of thousands of votes that he missed in 2017, two days later the saviors of the PS and Hidalgo. Today, according to rumors, we are the launching pad for Taubira. While the rumors are rife, we continue on our way.
From small villages in the depths of France to working-class neighborhoods via large cities, we are here, ready to put our mobilization force at your service, at the service of the victory of ecology, social justice and a true democracy.
Today, you are all 4 presidential candidates, and in all probability we will campaign for one or one of you from January 31st. Not only by membership, nor "by default" , but because we are afraid for our future and we want to see you govern together with all the political forces defending ecology and social justice.
On each election night, we cry about the abstention rate. We are looking for a miracle cure and we are asking citizens to return to the polls and get involved. Today, we dare something new. At worst, it works! For you and for us!
Samuel Grzybowski (Spokesperson for the Popular Primary) and Mathilde Imer (Spokesperson for the Popular Primary)