After the Quatennens affair, the discomfort of the voters of La France insoumise

“Can you be a deputy, therefore vote for laws, when you are violent with your wife, even if it is not recurrent? »asks Isabelle Couque, librarian and “feminist at heart”, who voted for Adrien Quatennens in the legislative elections in the North. For this 50-year-old, the time has come “deep unease”. Since the deputy La France insoumise (LFI) recognized domestic violence, the unease is shared by many activists and voters, even if many struggle to talk about it openly. It took a long time to negotiate with these three LFI activists for them to agree to a meeting in a Lille café, but on condition that their names were not mentioned. We are at the heart of the first constituency in the North, that of Roger Salengro and Pierre Mauroy, in which Adrien Quatennens was elected, in 2017, with forty-six votes ahead of the macronist Christophe Itier. A term later, he was re-elected there, in April 2022, with 65.2% of the vote.

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“We don’t want any stories. The subject is hot », loose one of the “rebellious” activists, a civil servant in a local community. Although he refuses to interfere in the private life of Mr. Quatennens, he acknowledges that “He himself invited us to his bedroom, or not far, with this press release where he delivered the details of his marital separation”. At his side, a young woman approves and is sorry “of the image it sends back. As if we were complicit in something, in spite of ourselves. What do we do with this now? » It is the third activist who concludes the debate: “You are ridiculous, we do nothing! It is up to the court to decide if it considers that there is reason to do so for a simple slap. » For him, the chosen one lives “what many go through in a divorce. He screwed up, we’re not going to hang him for that! And we can clearly see all the vultures that pounce on it, therefore on our movement, and take advantage of it to discredit us. It’s too easy ! »

” It is not the good moment “

Among the regulars of this café in a working-class district, two other LFI voters heard about the affair – ” sure ” -, but ensure that “It’s been hyped up by the media. They want to shoot him down, that’s for sure.”, says Quentin Devigne, fiber optic installer. He recognizes that ” it is not the good moment “ and find that “Quatennens would have done better to keep quiet. Within days, the media would have moved on.. His tour companion approves. He thinks that “It can happen to anyone to slap, it’s not like he beat his wife every day anyway”. This is exactly the kind of argument that makes Isabelle Couque, the librarian, jump. She liked M. Quatennens, “a well-made head, with a clear speech, but there… I can’t condone saying that it doesn’t matter”.

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