at the headquarters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the sun chases the rain – Liberation

The big gap is huge. We left Jean-Luc Mélenchon around 9 p.m., leaving behind him a room in tears after a farewell speech. Here he is again at 11:45 p.m., fist raised and smile from ear to ear, in front of a crowd of delirious young people. It’s just over an hour that the scores of the rebellious candidate and Marine Le Pen are tightening.

So much so that at the Cirque d’Hiver, we begin to dream of qualifying on the wire for the second round of the presidential election. between the classics “we are here” and “resistance” chanted by rebellious young people, some now dare to sing “second round, second round”. In the corridors of the room, we try all the calculations to see if it can pass. “Of the 7 million votes that remain to be counted, Marine Le Pen’s score should not be higher than 10% and that of Jean-Luc Mélenchon should not be lower than 36%”, slips one of the thinking heads of the campaign. It is roughly the balance of power in Toulouse and Marseille.

The glimmer of hope appeared around 10:45 p.m. The results of the second round are being refined and here is Mélenchon less than a point clear of the RN candidate. Among the rebellious, we keep a cool head: “As long as nothing is announced, we wait”, glide to Release one of the closest to the candidate. “We are like you, we are waiting”, says Adrien Quatennens, who runs between the village hall and backstage. As the evening progressed, the news spread. “Don’t talk to me about that, I’ve already cried enough just now”, smiles an insubordinate to a friend. Everyone joins their group of friends: “Did you see, it’s getting tighter?” “Yeah but hey, we’re waiting to see, responds Sarah, a Parisian activist. If tomorrow, we are in the second round, I give 5 euros to reimburse the campaign of Jadot”.

As time passes, hope is reborn. Impossible for the elected officials to show triumphalism but the state of mind has changed. We smile, we toast. MPs Mathilde Panot, Danièle Obono and MEP Manon Aubry hug each other. In front of the hall, the activists who left crestfallen came back to sing again. What a contrast with the atmosphere at 8 p.m.…

Dry white wine

We didn’t really have the heart to sing then. A few seconds earlier, these are the faces of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen which appeared on television screens. Jean-Luc Mélenchon finished in third position with nearly 20.1% of the vote (he will be reassessed at 22.2% later in the evening). “But how is that possible? How can the French do the same bullshit as in 2017? squeals Marine, a rebellious activist from the start. Another, 2 meters away, burst into tears. She stammers: “We’re screwed, we can’t make up for five more years.” Next to her, her companion finishes his glass of white wine bottoms up. “It’s to pass the pill”, he breathes.

In the Parisian room, the nervousness quickly peaks under the disappointment. “I am very angry with the left for not having been able to get along, I hope they are all very ashamed”, sighs feminist activist Claudine Cordani, putting her long gray locks to the side. A few moments later, the communist Fabien Roussel appears on the screens arranged along the length of the room. The rebels, who blame him for the non-qualification of Mélenchon, boo him. “Macronist!” even launches an activist more annoyed than the others. A quarter of an hour later, the same fate is reserved for ecologist Yannick Jadot. “They have blood on their hands”, even a 30-something dares, her eyes red with sadness.

“The beavers are us”

However, a few minutes before the 8 p.m. ax, we were toasting, we were singing, we were showing broad smiles. The elected officials and members of the People’s Parliament from working-class neighborhoods all made the same observation: they had never seen so many people in the polling stations for this first round of the presidential election. “There were queues”, affirmed the deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis Eric Coquerel. “In Nanterre, there were mind-blowing queues in the polling stations and above all, I saw people who you never usually see moving around”, abounded the trade unionist Mornia Labssi.

After the results, the former author of the Guignols Bruno Gaccio, usually laughing, looks bad. “Marine Le Pen’s victory is not only possible, it is probable”, he worries, munching on some peanuts. Inevitably, we are already talking about the choice to be made for the second round. “The beavers are us, continues Gaccio, The others with their scores below 5%, they can’t do anything, we are the only ones who can block. If LFI mobilizes Macron wins, if LFI does not mobilize Marine Le Pen wins. He made his choice but refuses to disclose it. Farida, a 58-year-old nurse, has much less trouble saying what she plans to do: “I never move, it’s dead, I’m not going to vote for Macron after the five-year term that he has just laid on us”, she says loud and clear.

“It’s not far… Do better”

At 8:38 p.m. precisely, Jean-Luc Mélenchon appears on the scene, sketching a smile. After waiting a few minutes for Marine Le Pen to finish her speech so that hers can be broadcast live on TV, the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône begins his speech: “A new page of combat opens. You will approach it, we will approach it with pride in the work accomplished.”

Full of lyricism, he invokes the overseas territories, the Mediterranean, before tackling the thorny question of the second round. “No vote should go to Marine Le Pen”, he hammers, before asking his supporters not to commit “the irreparable”. “We know who we will never vote for. Yes, it’s a disappointment. But we are proud of the work accomplished. The struggle continues ! As long as life goes on, the fight goes on.” launches the candidate of the People’s Union. “We have built with our hands so many times under contempt and insults. The only task henceforth is that accomplished by the myth of Sisyphus. The stone falls down the ravine, so we bring it up. You are in a condition to lead the battle. continues Mélenchon to the applause of the room.

Then, the rebellious leader draws what looks like his reverence: “So of course, the youngest will say to me: well, we haven’t got there yet! It’s not far… Do better.” On the faces of many activists, tears flow. We hug each other for comfort. At the HQ of Mélenchon, this evening, we will have cried twice: at the announcement of the results and after the boss’s farewell speech. Before the smiles soon return.

Update at 00:25 with the second part of the evening.