François Ruffin and Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not meet at the Fête de Humanity. Not for a moment, not by chance. The deputy of the Somme, who broke with La France Insoumise (LFI), and the leader of the “rebels” were present on the same day, Saturday 14 September, but they took care not to take different paths. The weather was really too good in Brétigny-sur-Orge (Essonne) for anyone to want to restart the violent dispute between them over the working classes.
The break is established between the two men, of course, but it must not, at any time, break the unitary dynamic of the left. This was the mood of the Party of HumaFrom Friday to Sunday: do not harm the New Popular Front (NFP), and avoid the disastrous fate of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (NUPES), dissolved after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
On the Picardie Debout stand, François Ruffin, who had spent the week accusing Jean-Luc Mélenchon of communitarianism, ended up expressing his ” keen “not without having assumed a few minutes before, among many whistles and some applause, a “deep moral and electoral disagreement”. Usually known for his Homeric retaliations, the founder of LFI opted this time for appeasement: “We are going to downplay the discussion within the left. (…) Not everything is about slapping each other,” he said during a speech at the LFI stand. Against his troops, sent to the media front to discredit as much as possible anyone who tries to pose as Mélenchon’s competitor for the 2027 presidential elections.
Classic dividing lines
For her part, Marine Tondelier, national secretary of the Ecologists, found her formula: “ stop the party pooper “, which he repeated in front of all the available microphones. He also asked everyone not to “put on a show”because during this time, “the others eat popcorn.” In the early evening of Saturday, in an agora packed with spectators, the four party leaders, Olivier Faure (Party of the Socialists, PS), Marine Tondelier, Manuel Bompard (LFI) and Fabien Roussel (Party of the French Communist Party) spoke with the same voice: for them, the PFN must continue. Even if the classic dividing lines between the four entities persist.
On Tuesday 17 September, in the morning, the PFN will face a new test. The National Assembly, where the left is in the majority, must decide on the admissibility of the motion to remove Emmanuel Macron, presented by LFI. Everything depends on the socialists, who will have to discuss it the day before: the ecologists and the communists have already decided to validate it.
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