Fabien Roussel is there, in his eternal light blue suit, but there is not the shadow of a barbecue. At the Palais du Pharo, in Marseille, where the French Communist Party (PCF) is holding its 39th congress, the atmosphere is studious and the ham and cheese sandwiches are quickly swallowed. Nearly 1,200 communists came from all over France to meet there until the end of this long Easter weekend. A great mass for a party which must determine its strategy and (re)elect its leader for the years to come – with little suspense in this regard as Fabien Roussel seems to have imposed himself.
Nearly 17% for pension reform
On this Friday, the sun bathes the esplanade on which a bar has been installed. Some of the three hundred volunteers, who allow an organization at lower cost, take advantage of this quiet time when most of the delegates are busy debating in the amphitheater. But no way to have a drink. “No alcohol before 6 p.m. The cleaver fell like an ice cube in a glass of kir.
– “Oh, but it’s worse than the summer school of the LFI”, indignantly a young communist, badge “retirement is 51 years old”, on the chest.
– “How do you know, you were there?” “, we are surprised.
– “I was told”.
We are reassured.
These are also the debates guaranteed to maintain a certain effectiveness. Speeches are limited to three minutes so that all orientations can be expressed and, if necessary, voted on. Votes that are made for the first time using a small box. The warm-up of this new tool, which everyone must appropriate, is done with a question without issue: “For or against the pension reform? 16.92% for out of the nearly six hundred votes cast. The Communists are teasing and this warm-up tour was perhaps very useful to understand how this electronic voting box works.
Outside the amphitheater, Roselyne, from the Renaissance bookstore in Toulouse, offers various books. It includes the classic authors of the communist pantheon – Lenin and Marx, of course. But also Gramsci or Althusser, and also novels and works by contemporary intellectuals, such as Piketty or Lordon. “Young people often ask for the classics”, observes the communist bookseller, who seeks above all to “meet works and audiences”, without losing sight “that this is a political congress”. A good look, Houellebecq was not in the boxes. In contrast to serve the rich by Alizée Delpierre.
1,200 communists in a palace
A little further down the hall is the Communist Party selling some goodies. Not to mention the Easter chocolate tradition with a raffle in which the winner will win a giant egg that only one man or woman will not be able to eat alone. An invitation to share perhaps? Beyond Fabien Roussel’s book, Happy days are ahead of us, their best-sellers are “tote bags”, sold for nine euros, which in several languages to choose from (French, English, German, Russian) proclaim, by extending the famous slogan of the US army: “We need you for the revolution. Among the Young Communists, it is a lighter, depicting the head of Fidel Castro with a cigar in the beak, and captioned “the flame of the revolution”, which is bought well. “Probably because it’s also useful,” says a young person from the organization.
There is very little question of revolution in the debates, even if the anti-capitalist orientation of the speeches is unambiguous. The satisfaction of seeing a Communist Party revived by the media breakthroughs of its national secretary, crowned favorite left-wing political personality of the French, is felt. The latter did not hesitate to tackle the LFI, against whom the Communists keep a hard tooth, in his opening speech. “Mélenchon has still spat on us since 2012 and the Left Front. And again during the last presidential election when he said that we are “death and nothingness”, abounds Hervé, a delegate from the Haute-Saône federation, whose look is reminiscent of a singer Renaud who does not would not have sunk into excess. An analysis to which Emmanuelle subscribes, under the spell of the character of Fabien Roussel. “I wake up with him, she confesses voluntarily. I have a google alert with his name. I read everything that comes out about him. She dreams of “sharing a barbecue” with the party’s national secretary. It is the “darling of women”, believes the resident of Besançon, who had not seen the sea for twenty years for lack of means to go on vacation.
Facing the Old Port, which stretches below the gardens of the Palais du Pharo, the refreshment bar has unpacked the cans of beer and brought out the pitchers of water needed for the local anisette as the sun begins to dip behind the islands. from Friuli. Naïma, administrator of the PCF federation of Bouches-du-Rhône takes on the role of DJ. “Tonight will be very chill. Relaxed music to soothe after the debates”, she explains while the voice of Alicia Keys envelops the assembly.
While everyone seems to appreciate the setting, it is true one of the most beautiful in Marseille, where Emmanuel Macron had come to give his meeting between two rounds in 2022, it would be fair to be surprised to see 1,200 communists flourish within the walls of a palace built by Napoleon III without burning everything down. “Finally, it’s still not him who did it with his hands,” corrects a young communist. Never lose sight of who works and produces wealth. Here, here, is what unites without discussion.