The Socialist Party announced this Saturday, March 4 resign from office Christiane Constant, First Federal Secretary of the Rhône, after an SMS “racist”.
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A reaction from the party leadership had been expected for several days after the circulation of a screenshot among socialist activists. Christiane Constant was re-elected First Federal Secretary of the Socialist Party of the Rhône overnight from Thursday to Friday, winning with 56% of the vote against Murielle Laurent.
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But the joy of victory was quickly disturbed by the screenshot of an SMS, which circulated among socialist activists. Addressing a certain “Souad”, Christiane Constant would have welcomed this victory. “We are going to have a party… thunder of zeus”, would she have written at the end of the message, according to « Lyon Mag » who had access to this screenshot.
Before finishing : “We eliminated all these macaques”accompanied by a red heart emoji and then three monkey emojis.
“Following her election as First Federal Secretary of the Rhône of the Socialist Party on Thursday evening, Christiane Constant wrote a message containing a racist remark”, writes the PS in a press release this Saturday. First Secretary Olivier Faure asked her to resign but, not having received it, it was decided to dismiss her from her duties and suspend her from the party.
An internal procedure should be launched in the coming weeks, after the installation of the National Office scheduled for March 11. The penalty may go as far as exclusion. A new federal management team will be set up in the coming days in the Rhône.
“The anti-racist fight is at the foundation of the identity of the Socialist Party, which condemns with the greatest firmness these unacceptable and criminally reprehensible remarks”, hammers the press release.
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A proofreader error?
In recent days, some had denounced a message of a racist nature, in particular because, as a support for Olivier Faure, she had opposed the revolt of the mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, Hélène Geoffroy, critic of Nupes .
But according to a source at the ” Progress “Christiane Constant would have liked to write “macaches” which means “nothing”, but her corrector would have corrected in “macaques”.
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Contacted by « Lyon Mag » Friday, Christiane Constant recognized a bad choice of word but defended herself from any racist allusion.
But she had already been disavowed by several party members: “I can no longer consider you as my comrade”, notably wrote on Twitter Stéphane Gomez, first assistant to Hélène Geoffroy in Vaulx-en-Velin. He denounced “insulting, violent, discriminatory remarks”. « These abject remarks cannot be excused neither by fatigue, even less the celebration “said Sandrine Runel, deputy (PS) to the mayor of Lyon, also on Twitter. Cédric Van Styvendael, PS mayor of Villeurbanne, had called Christiane Constant at ” take his responsibilities “.