Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced reacted to the ban by the Northern prefecture of the conference on the Middle East which he was to hold in the evening in Lille with the candidate for the European elections Rima Hassan. The leader of France Insoumise denounced “an abuse of power of a banana republic”
The leader of La France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced Thursday “an abuse of power of a banana republic” after the ban by the Northern prefecture of the conference on the Middle East that he was to hold in the evening in Lille with the candidate for the European elections Rima Hassan.
“This meeting must obviously be authorized”
“Still banned from meeting. Yesterday the university. But today the prefecture and in an open public place. (…) Forbidding us from meeting on the pretext of our subject is an abuse of power of a banana republic”, lamented Jean-Luc Mélenchon, himself symbolically present in the penultimate place on the list led by Manon Aubry. “To the cockroaches who voted for pesticides against ants, a message: even the bees who abstained died,” added the three-time presidential candidate, in a cryptic animal metaphor.
If it was a call for reaction and support for other left-wing leaders, the LFI leader was heard. “In the middle of the electoral campaign, banning again a public meeting organized by LFI is an affront to democracy,” reacted the boss of the Socialists Olivier Faure, who nevertheless maintains shady relations with the Insoumis. “This meeting must obviously be authorized,” he added.
From the first ban on Wednesday, by the University of Lille, the head of environmentalist deputies Cyrielle Chatelain was concerned about “growing intolerance”. “When we restrict the freedom of expression of one person, we weaken the freedom of expression of all,” she commented.