Peillon pursues a Coalition of the Left

Vincent Peillon, Socialist MEP for the South-East (my neck of the woods) is in the process of gathering a coalition of the Left to present a united front.

As a young politician, it’s likely that he is setting himself up as a credible candidate for the Presidency. Though he has ruled out running in 2012, he could be a winner come 2017.

Vincent Peillion

In his “rassemblement” he is looking to invite everybody from the Communist Party (PCF) to the MoDems to the Greens, having met with the party leaders over summer. It remains to be seen whether the others are on board. Europe Ecologie (The Greens) had an impressive showing in the June elections, but they were way down in my recent by-election and refused to support the PS candidate.

The idea seems good in principal, the uniting of an ever more divided left in the face of a new generation for the Right. However, the “all against Sarkozy” strategy may be giving him far too much credit.

Whatever the consequences, I applaud M. Peillon for taking the initiative despite the feud continuing between First Secretary Martine Aubry (who resembles more and more Gordon Brown)  and the polarizing-but-at-least-we’ve-heard-of her Segolene Royal.

Unless a credible candidate can be found within the Parti Socialiste, it looks like Sarkozy will be handed a second term without a struggle. Don’t place any bets, but it could be Sarkozy vs Strauss-Kahn match.