Former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls — who developed a reputation for steamrolling rebellious backbenchers — has been reborn as a fan of parliamentary debate.
Ten days after stepping down to run in a primary to choose the Left’s presidential candidate, Valls on Thursday announced his intention to abolish an executive decree known in France as the “49-3,” after the number of the article in the Constitution, if he wins.
It was a jarring about-face for a man who used the 49-3 no fewer than six times during his two-year term as prime minister, notably to pass a controversial reform of labor rules seen as a betrayal of left-wing principles by much of Valls’ Socialist Party. [...]
Indeed, he will have to establish himself as the most serious contender against no fewer than three former ministers: Arnaud Montebourg, a hard-left former industry and economy minister; Benoît Hamon, a former education minister who is equally left-wing; and, since Sunday, Vincent Peillon, a former education minister. [...]
According to a December 7 poll by BVA, both Mélenchon and Macron would beat Valls in the first round, both with 14 percent support versus 13 percent for the former prime minister. Even if Macron dropped out, and another centrist potential candidate, François Bayrou, decided not to run, Valls would get only 21 percent, the poll showed — still not enough to beat either François Fillon, the conservative frontrunner, or far-right chief Marine Le Pen.
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