La France insoumise (LFI) will inaugurate its first premises on Saturday in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, where all the deputies wear the colors of the National Rally (RN). This branch of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party opens in Perpignan, a town led since 2020 by Louis Aliot, who is also a figure of the RN.
A year ago, LFI announced that it wanted to buy premises “in all the departments of France, starting with the 65 departments where we do not have deputies”, in order to compete for rural and peri-urban areas with the RN and the RIGHT.
LFI “came close” to victory in one constituency, in the Pyrénées-Orientales
This first premises, purchased and inaugurated on Saturday evening in Perpignan, “checks all the boxes”, estimates Essonne MP Antoine Léaument (LFI) to AFP: the Pyrénées-Orientales is a “rural” department, with “a strong presence of the RN” and “where we came close to victories”. During the 2022 legislative elections, in one of the four constituencies in this department ultimately won by the RN, a rebellious candidate lost in the second round by around 3,000 votes.
The goal is “always” to be present “in each department by 2027” assures Antoine Léaument, but LFI will start with “one local per each major region before refining”. The next one should open its doors in Drôme at the beginning of 2024, before a possible extension in Meuse, Doubs or even Calvados.
“We target the departments where we can swing constituencies and win deputies,” he specifies. “There is a desire to conquer places in which we are a little less strong. The rural departments are populated by older people, whose scores are lower than those of young people,” explains the MP for Essonne.