Rennes Congress
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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 is re-elected President of France but the PS obtained only a relative majority in the National Assembly. Elected with a moderate program ("united France"), Mitterrand chosen his former rival Michel Rocard, leader of the right-wing of the party, as Prime Minister. Furthemore, centerist politicians joined the cabinet.
Prime secretary of the PS since 1981, Lionel Jospin became National Education Minister. Mitterrand wanted his former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius succeedeed him to the head of the party. Fabius appeared like the heir chosen by Mitterrand. A coalition was created in order to prevent Fabius to be elected prime secretary. It gathered Rocard's supporters and a part of mitterrandist group led by Jospin. Their candidate, Pierre Mauroy, another former Prime Minister, defeated Fabius.
During the Rennes Congress, Mitterrand wanted impose Fabius as prime secretary. For a second time, he faced with Rocard-Jospin alliance. The Rennes Congress was marked by the violence in the mitterrandist group which split between jospiniens and fabiusiens.
That was personal conflicts which opposed the three main factions: Fabius, Jospin-Mauroy and Rocard. But other minoritary factions were presented:
-Jean-Pierre Chevènement ("Socialism and Republic") led the eurosceptic left-wing
-Julien Dray and Jean-Luc Mélenchon ("Socialist Left") were former trotskysts which criticized the "opening" to center-right politicians
-Marie-Noëlle Lienemann advocated an auto-gestionary project
-Jean Poperen ("To gather the Left") wanted to get in touch with the Communist party
[edit] Results
- 29% for Jospin-Mauroy
- 28.8% for Fabius
- 24.2% for Rocard
- 8.5% for Chevènement
- 7.2% for Poperen
- 1.5% for Dray-Mélenchon
- 0.6% for Lienemann
[edit] Consequences
Pierre Mauroy was re-elected prime secretary with the support of Jospin and Rocard. Mitterrand accused Jospin to be responsible for the split of the mitterrandist group. His relations with Jospin and Rocard will deteriorate until the "resignation" of Rocard from the head of the cabinet in 1991. The next year, Jospin was ejected from the government.
The violence of the debates given a very bad public image of the PS and contributed to its decline at the beginning of the 1990s. The Rennes Congress is a traumatism in the memory of the French Socialists.
