The Le Mans Congress was the twenty-first national congress of the French
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
(''Parti socialiste'' or PS). It took place from November 18 to 20, 2005.
The objective of the Congress was to solve internal divisions created by the French referendum on the
European Constitution
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
and designate a new leadership at all levels.
Motions
Five motions were presented to be voted upon by members:
*For a liberal socialism: Truth and Action (''Pour un socialisme libéral : vérité et action''):
Social liberal
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
current led by
Jean-Marie Bockel
Jean-Marie Bockel (born 22 June 1950) is a French politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence and Veterans in the government of Prime Minister François Fillon appointed on 18 March 2008, having previously been Secretary of State ...
, PS mayor of
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...
.
*Rally the Left (''Rassembler à gauche''): Left-wing motion led
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician serving as President of the Constitutional Council since 8 March 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 Mar ...
, and supported by
Jean-Luc Mélenchon and
Marie-Noëlle Lienemann. This was the first time since the 1990
Rennes Congress
The Rennes Congress was the thirteenth national congress of the French Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS). It took place from 15 to 18 March 1990.
In 1988, François Mitterrand was re-elected President of France but the PS obtained only ...
that Fabius led a motion.
*Socialists, for success on the left: Will, Truth, Unity (''Socialistes, pour réussir à gauche : Volonté - Vérité - Unité''): Majority motion led by
François Hollande, supported by the party elites:
Martine Aubry
Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), Mayo ...
,
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist P ...
, and
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he previously served in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and Senate from 1995 unt ...
.
*New Socialist Party-For a Socialist Alternative (''Nouveau Parti Socialiste-Pour une Alternative Socialiste''): Left-wing motion supported by
Vincent Peillon,
Arnaud Montebourg
Arnaud Montebourg (; born 30 October 1962) is a French politician, lawyer and entrepreneur who served as the Minister of Industrial Renewal from 2012 to 2014,[Benoît Hamon
Benoît Hamon (; born 26 June 1967) is a French politician known for his former role within the Socialist Party (PS) and Party of European Socialists (PES) and his political party Génération.s.
Hamon joined the Socialist Party in 1988 and ...]
,
Michel Vauzelle,
Henri Emmanuelli
Henri Emmanuelli (31 May 1945 – 21 March 2017) was a French politician. A member of the French Socialist Party, he was deputy for Landes from 1978 to 1981, from 1986 to 1997, and from 2000 to 2017.
Early life and career
Emmanuelli was born ...
.
*Utopia:
Alterglobalization current led by Franck Pupunat.
Results
Hollande was re-elected as First Secretary unopposed. He won 76.96% of the votes.
PS Congresses since 1971
''France-politique''
References
{{François Hollande
Congresses of the Socialist Party (France)
François Hollande
2005 in France
2005 in politics
2005 conferences