” You can come ! Join our forces, enough whining, enough whining, enough hesitation, into battle! Jean-Luc Mélenchon galvanized a few thousand of his supporters on Sunday at La Défense, during his first big campaign rally. Four months before the first round of the presidential election, the tribune of La France insoumise called for a rally behind his candidacy. “Since it is not possible to unite at the top, then unite at the base!” He said. The instrument that brings us together is the program. “On this occasion, the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône presented his” Campaign Parliament “, a structure aimed at making” popular union “, failing to have succeeded in unifying the left.
“Reaching out to those who are disgusted with politics”
This “Parliament” is now made up of 200 people. For half, rebellious officials, and for the other half of non-members, like its president, Aurélie Found, the former patron of Attac. Among the personalities presented on Sunday include the writer Annie Ernaux, the former CGT figure of the “Conti” Xavier Mathieu, the historian Jean-Marc Schiappa – father of the minister -, the philosopher Barbara Stiegler, as well as some politicians, such as the former spokesperson for Sandrine Rousseau, Thomas Portes. “We have accused Jean-Luc Mélenchon of sectarianism a lot, but this outstretched hand shows that there is a desire to expand beyond the ranks of LFI”, assures this ex of EELV.
Because Jean-Luc Mélenchon does not manage to hang the lead car in the polls. Credited with 7 to 10% of voting intentions in the latest surveys, it remains far from 19.58% of votes cast in 2017. The assembly, which must meet once a month in the presence of the candidate, aims to feed its program, but also to broaden its electoral base. “France rebellious shows that it is not folded in on itself and can bring together people from all walks of life, associations, cultural, or trade unionists”, advance the MEP LFI and vice-president of this structure, Manon Aubry. “These personalities offer other sounding boards and will be able to touch the popular classes and those who are disgusted with politics. “
“We must unite all the anger”
This is the objective of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in this campaign: to seek the voices he lacks among the abstainers. “Hope is found in working-class neighborhoods. If they get going, we’re going to win. Otherwise, we will be beaten. It’s that simple, ”he said clearly in an interview with 20 minutes. To achieve this, the candidate seems to have put aside the “populist” strategy of 2017. He also mourned a hypothetical union of the traditional left, while Yannick Jadot (EELV), Anne Hidalgo (PS), Arnaud Montebourg (ex-PS) and Fabien Roussel (PCF) seem determined to present themselves. While he
struggles to convince popular categories, the candidate now seems to be betting on a convergence of struggles, as reflected by the faces of this new parliament. A form of election marketing?
“This is not political marketing, but to win, as theorized in particular Aurélie Found with her rainbow block, the union of struggles is essential, underlines Thomas Portes. All the anger must be united: the people who are fighting over the issue of nuclear waste, the “yellow vests”, the feminists mobilized against gender-based violence… ”. Jean-Luc Mélenchon thus hopes to break through with his left-wing competitors and benefit, in the home straight, from a “useful vote” effect as in 2017.