Appointment had been given at the campaign headquarters of the 3rd district. That of the northern districts and all the dangers for Nupes where Mohamed Bensaada faces Gisèle Lelouis, the RN candidate, in a second round which promises to be very tight. In the back garden of this old building, installed in the shade of a lime tree, the five Marseille candidates of the Nupes qualified for the second round of the legislative elections were present to rehearse their program and display their ambitions. For the occasion, MP Danièle Obono, re-elected in the first round in Paris, came down to lend her support, “happy to be there, with the family”, she rejoiced. Because in addition to the five candidates of the Nupes, the communist senator Jérémy Bacchi had joined the party, as well as Sébastien Barles, elected EELV of the spring of Marseille. A time hoped for, Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille, did not move.
For the Nupes, and probably here more than elsewhere, the new left alliance brings hope. In 2017, throughout the department, the left had sent only three candidates to the second round, for two elected (1 FI and 1 PCF), leaving the fourteen other constituencies to LREM (8 deputies + 1 Modem) and to the LR ( 5 deputies). In the absence of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has not repeated his candidacy in the center of Marseille, Manuel Bompard has established himself as the new leader. “If, at the national level, we win 70% of the constituencies where we are present in the second round, we will govern the country”, calculated the one who, despite his 56% in the first round, will have to go through a second. The fault is too low a turnout, the “central question” of this Sunday’s ballot, according to Manuel Bompard. “We’re told, you don’t have a voice pool, but we actually have the biggest one. 70% of 18-34 year olds did not vote,” recalled the MEP. “Our dynamic is on the move”, assured Hendrik Davi, candidate in the 5th district, savoring his good word, now that LREM has become Together!
Long-awaited support
Even if the candidates consider it “possible” to do 5/5 in Marseille, promising that it “is not just a formula”, the reality on the evening of June 19 should be slightly different. If in Marseille the constituencies of Manuel Bompard, Sébastien Delagu, or even Hendrik Davi, seem acquired, Alexandre Ruptnik will have a lot to do in the chic 7th and 8th arrondissements against Claire Pitalloat, outgoing LREM deputy. As for Mohamed Bensaada, he will have to count either on a strong mobilization, or on the postponement of the votes of Alexandra Louis, unfortunate LREM candidate, who has not yet given voting instructions, unlike Saïd Ahamada, his ex – colleague of the Assembly, and neighbor of constituency.
An announcement that the Nupes candidate hopes for. “I saw that she had wanted to do things for the dilapidated housing estates of Parc Corot and Les Rosiers. If his commitment was sincere, we cannot leave them to the RN, ”he said. If it were to win, the candidates of the Nupes, with four deputies elected out of five in the second round, would achieve an 80%. They would thus afford the luxury of being in the majority in terms of the number of deputies in Marseille. If they were to fail, it would be a 60% victory in the second round, and a failure. A failure, however, quite relative, when we see where the left started from, currently in full political recomposition.