The idea of excluding former President of the Republic François Hollande from the PS because he supported dissidents in the legislative elections “has never been considered”, assured Friday the first secretary of the party Olivier Faure on France 2 .
Asked about the exclusion procedure launched by the PS against 79 dissidents (57 candidates, 22 alternates), Olivier Faure assured that it was “not a purge”, as some opponents have said.
“There was never a purge, but a willingness to enforce rules and make sure we honor our word,” he added.
“There are people who were candidates against candidates supported or presented by the PS (as part of the left alliance Nupes, editor’s note). Our statutes clearly say that we cannot be candidates against our candidates” , explained the first secretary.
The people concerned by the exclusion procedure will go before “a conflict commission, which is a pluralist commission, there will be contradictory matters”, he assured, and the sanctions “could range from a warning to exclusion, including temporary suspension”.
As for the idea of excluding François Hollande, who supported many dissidents on the ground, “it was never considered,” said Olivier Faure.
The two men have been cold for years and no longer speak to each other, due to differences in political lines.
Olivier Faure did not specify whether he would be a candidate for his succession at the next PS congress in the fall, but he said “to be keen to extend what (he) has been engaged in for four years”.
“I want a party that is really on the left, that has no complex, that reconnects with its glorious history” and “that the new generation can take its place when the elephants have to give way”, insisted Olivier Faure.
07/08/2022 10:28:22 – Paris (AFP) – © 2022 AFP
