Manuel Valls, symbol of a dying world

A look at the news - Nicolas Jutzet

The big loser of the left-wing primary, who had distanced himself from his political family even before the first round, seems lost. Isolated. Dumped by his former party, logically incensed by his infidelity, here he is (again) turned away by En Marche!, which he thought he'd join, borrowing a red carpet. Despite his past, his experience, his connections and his role as Prime Minister, he still couldn't find favor in the eyes of the symbol of renewal. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Manuel is alone, abandoned.

It was a sad fate for the man who had lobbied the outgoing President to include this ambitious technocrat in his government. With him, he was going to make reforms, to be able to profile himself as the French «Schröder». A few months and a few impertinences distilled in a complacent press later, Valls was out of his depth. Outdated by this newcomer who, unlike him, knows how to convince, how to please and how to listen. In short, he's the embodiment of the renewal he wanted to bring about. The Macron law, which had a majority to pass by simple vote, was the answer. Valls used the 49-3 to torpedo the image and the titanic work done behind the scenes by the arrogant young man. But there was no turning back. Valls is trapped. Between a disgraced President and the media darling, there is little room left for the man who dreamed of synthesizing the two. He sees the vice closing in.

A man of late courage, unlike many others, Manuel Valls is paying for his lack of vision. He lets the wolf into the sheepfold, steals his victory, then refuses to face the truth. It was impossible for someone like him, who accepts the market economy while representing the hardest societal line on the left, to win this primary. It was time to flee, to take the high road, to dare to rally beyond the party apparatuses. But let's be honest, it's hard to imagine success for such a crazy adventure. He doesn't have the qualities.

So here he is, the man who embodied the future of the left, reduced to begging his former friend for a nomination. Logically refused, given that he represents the world that is dying, with its logic that has become unbearable. But the new President leaves the door wide open. By refusing to put an En Marche! candidate in front of him, he is suggesting that the former Prime Minister is not his enemy, if not his friend. The benevolence, not of an outstretched hand, but of refusing to shoot a man down. In the long term, a welcome in the new family he had longed to join is not out of the question. But first he must disappear, cease to embody what France seems to hate. By refusing to face history, Manuel has broken. It's only fair.

Write to the author: nicolas.jutzet@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Nathalie MP