“If I manage to release a force around me…” | EUROtoday

To make certain of being the primary to go, she has been ready for an hour, standing, leaning on her cane, her little canine on a leash. Behind her, an extended disciplined line winds via the cabinets of books till spilling onto the Grand-Place in Lille. This Tuesday, October 15, the Le Furet du Nord bookstore welcomes a former president who has come to signal his new e-book, The Challenge of Governing. The left and the ability from the Dreyfus affair to the current day (Perrin, 2024). The girl comes ahead and bursts into an enormous smile: “We missed you very much, Mr. Hollande. » And, pointing to his dog: “ I present to you Romeo. » “It’s very important, dogs,” he replies. She : “Yes, it does me a lot of good. » Him : “If I had known, I would have come with Philae [son labrador]. » He hands her his copy, a sign that it is now time to give up his place.

Everyone came to approach a curiosity: a former president who had become a deputy again (only Valéry Giscard d’Estaing had carried out this reconversion). Some come to express their admiration, snap a selfie or, more prosaically, submit a CV. “I have a history with you”, “you are very important to me”, “you made me want to get involved”… In the procession, a majority of scholars and, above all, feminine college students. These two ask the previous head of state to report a brief video for his or her philosophy instructor, to apologize for skipping class. He does it with relish. “Louanne and Solenn apologize for not being with you because they are with me. »

A shy young woman comes forward: “My father worked in the steel industry and I never had the answer to why he lost his job. I thought you could help me. » And here the ex is forced to return, once again, to the closure of the Florange blast furnaces, which had caused, in November 2012, the first government crisis of his five-year term. Some are also there to tell him that they hope to be able to vote for him in the next presidential election. “Will you be there in 2027? »asks a political science student. Him : “If there is a possibility… What is certain is that we must win… so if I manage to generate a force around me…” He closes every assembly with ” see you soon “, like a promise. In the automotive that takes him again to Lille station, he pretends to be stunned by this return of hype amongst younger folks: “Maybe it’s because I was their childhood president…” So why not attempt to turn out to be their president in 2027?

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