Faced with a disappointing score despite an encouraging campaign, PCF activists were torn this Sunday evening between hope for a communist revival and concern over the qualification of the far right in the second round.
“Well, here we are!” It is shortly after 8 p.m., Fabien Roussel will have finished his campaign as he had started it: in a frank, relaxed style, to the applause of dozens of relatives invited this Sunday evening election at the headquarters of the Communist Party in Paris. In front of him, friendly, almost tender looks: if the score is lower than expected (2.4%), everyone thanks the Communist candidate for his campaign, for his slogan of “Happy Days”, for “this feeling of renewed pride”.
An hour earlier, the doors of the Espace Niemeyer, headquarters of the Communist Party in Paris, opened to the press and a few guests, especially relatives or people who had participated in the campaign in their own way. The communist candidate hopes to validate his hard-hitting campaign, during which he will have known how to stand out thanks to subjects that are not very buoyant on the left, franchouillards will say some. “It will not be an evening with hundreds and hundreds of activists, ours mostly holding polling stations”, say the organizers. On the side of the press, numerous, the atmosphere is not cheerful. “If it’s this quiet now, what will it be after?” let go of a colleague.
“Fabien wins to be known”
Laurent, 57, came with his son Clément, 21. “Fabien’s campaign was good, he was able to stand out on the left. The objective is to make a score tonight, to have a group at the Assembly. Exist and then participate in the reconstruction of the left. Basically, we believe in it, a little. Next door, Lucas, 27, agrees: “Fabien deserves to be known. Right-wing people are interested in him, he manages to gather. Its program is positive and promotes social progress.” Proof, “all his meetings were full”.
Problem: a little before 8 p.m., the rumor goes up that Fabien Roussel will not make 3%. In some, the eyes redden. The older ones especially. At the announcement of the result, an activist explodes. “How can we be so low with such a beautiful campaign?” he lets go. “Ten years that I am with the PCF, I am disgusted, I think that I will withdraw from any engagement! We make a great campaign, we see people, we get beaten up by the rebellious for what? For them to finish third! In the meantime, the far right is stronger than all the left parties put together…” Vibe. In the youngest, the pill seems easier to swallow. “We expected a lot anywayexplains Louis, 26 years old. I myself was seduced by the campaign but I preferred to vote Mélenchon…” Around, we also comment a lot on the results of the other candidates of the historical parties. “Pecresse at less than 5%!” The socialist candidate, Anne Hidalgo, barely 2%, is much mocked.
And it is therefore ultimately in a purely Roussian style that the communist candidate quickly speaks in front of his supporters and his relatives. To loud applause, Fabien Roussel salutes the “hundreds of thousands” of communist militants who took part in the campaign of the PCF. With a more serious tone, the communist leader observes that the extreme right “has never been so strong in this country” and that she “now exceeds all the left”. In front of “this danger”the candidate called Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Anne Hidalgo and Yannick Jadot to “to unite in order to have a strong group in the National Assembly”. In the meantime, in the second round, Fabien Roussel asks “all French people to use the only bulletin to [leur] disposition to beat her in the second round”. But he warns Emmanuel Macron: “The President of the Republic must give up the insane reforms: he must withdraw his plan to extend retirement…” In the end, the PCF achieved its best score since Robert Hue’s campaign in 2002. Like a taste of renewal? “From Beginning”launches a young activist.