He has not been a deputy for a year, but Jean-Luc Mélenchon has never really left the National Assembly. He is there sometimes physically. But it is above all still in everyone’s mind, on the right and on the left, among the anti as among the pro-Nupes. The first are heard, the second were much more discreet. But this is no longer quite the case since the urban violence which followed the death of young Nahel, in Nanterre, at the end of June. Olivier Faure, first secretary of the PS and linchpin of Nupes, notably had to concede “a deep disagreement” with Jean-Luc Mélenchon. In question: the refusal of the rebellious leader “to call for calm”, the sorting he made between the unacceptable degradations and the others. Overall, his attitude during this sequence.
The truth is that it has been several months now, at least since the Quatennens affair, that Jean-Luc Mélenchon has been annoying his partners. And several weeks that it is quite clearly – always in veiled words – designated as “the problem” of the Nupes by a number of allies, at high level. Socialist Pierre Jouvet, in charge of the party’s key election position, is one of the few to have publicly stated that he “does not want” Jean-Luc Mélenchon to be his candidate in 2027. “I also told them the May 2, ”he assures, during the famous meeting which recorded the disagreements between partners, in particular with a view to the European elections next year. Since then, it’s been a wave.
“Jean-Luc Mélenchon is part of the problem, it’s obvious”
“If the candidacy of Jean-Luc Mélenchon is a prerequisite, it does not work. The rebellious are locked on it. Jean-Luc Mélenchon is part of the problem, it is obvious”, annoyed at the beginning of May an ecologist “who did the Nupes”. But everyone recognizes it: “If the problem of Nupes today, it is Jean-Luc Mélenchon, it is also him who brought it to this level”, explains a socialist framework. Many speak of a kind of “glass ceiling” for the triple presidential candidate, considered too divisive, preferring to cultivate his hard core rather than seeking to unite. “He was the architect of the Nupes: if he does not reach out to us, and if we do not take it, nothing happens, says another socialist deputy. But at some point, he has to accept that it escapes him. »
And that is precisely what he does not accept, some believe. “He is fed up with Nupes, judges another socialist. He has every interest in removing it, leaving us in the shit, and declaring himself a candidate as early as 2025. This is the disaster scenario. Among the rebellious slingers, who know their Mélenchon well, some see him as big as a house. “Obviously the Nupes bothers him. If we want a common candidate, we will have to discuss who together, and no one will want it to be him! »
“A Flock of Trolls”
Nobody, except most of the rebels. Which still makes a lot of people. The critics make many laugh: “I wish us more problems at 22% than solutions at 4 or 2%. If there are 150 deputies, it is thanks to him, says a faithful. If it were so sectarian, there would be no green, communist or socialist groups. For once, they were close to the floor. This is the overall tone: frankly, who else? And socialists and ecologists are well aware that they don’t have many people in store. You just have to see how many rushed to encourage François Ruffin. The member of the Somme is currently the only one to create competition.
Consequence: even among the socialists and ecologists, there are people to appease the ardor of the head cutters. “We still have a herd of trolls who made less than 5% and who explain that the problem is the one who made 22%, is surprised a great elected ecologist. There is a little respect to be had. It is the right-back of Louhans-Cuiseaux who tells us that the problem with winning the World Cup is Mbappé! » « 19% [en 2017], then 22%, it’s that his program shouldn’t be too rotten, you have to remain modest, ”adds an eco-friendly MP. “I was one of those who considered that with its 11% in 2012, it had reached its ceiling, recognizes another. Since then, he has done something that we no longer know how to do: talk to the working classes. “Beyond the slap he slapped the rest of the left on April 10, 2022, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, it also opens doors in disadvantaged neighborhoods, many note.
Cards in hand
The rest of the Nupes knows anyway that it does not really have the hand, as it is rare for it to win its case on a strategic question against LFI. His hopes are based on two things: first that the great unity of the rebels is only a facade. “With them, it is not on one side the management, on the other the slingers. It’s the management, the slingers, and a big swamp in the middle, ”analyzes a socialist deputy. It remains to be convinced: “I do not deify the man, he has great qualities and great faults, assures a young LFI deputy from this “swamp”. For now, there is no better than him. But 2027 is so far away…”
And then there is age, which makes some, in all parties, say that Jean-Luc Mélenchon, 75 years old in August 2027, must be taken seriously when he asks to be replaced: “He is in the position of someone who knows that the countryside wears them out. There, he is seriously considering something he hadn’t considered before. The leader of the rebellious wants to leave all doors open, to be free to choose. Until then, he is: everything except Mélenchon or not, it is always him who has the cards in hand.