In Orleans, the Animalist Party “still has hope” for the presidential election

The Animalist Party organized its first official meeting this Saturday for the presidential election. Its candidate, Hélène Thouy, still wants to believe in it despite the disappointments of her small movement, in particular the lack of sponsorship.

Fist raised, two fingers pointing in the air. The atmosphere is however not very punk. Saturday evening, in Orléans, animal rights activists mischievously displayed this gesture representing a cow’s head and its horns. Welcomed to an air of Katy Perry, the candidate of the Animalist Party Hélène Thouy held her first official meeting for the presidential election. “The time has come for the animal cause”she chanted on stage at the end of a timed day, regretting that “Animals are paying the price for our destructive madness”.

The candidate “assumes” not to talk about themes unrelated to the animal condition and is amused to see some of his proposals taken up by Yannick Jadot or Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Creation of a Ministry of Animal Protection, prohibition of industrial fishing and intensive farming or even a 50% reduction in the consumption of products of animal origin by 2027 are on its program, not yet published fault time to formalize it.

“We are taken for enlightened people”

The small room, subject to a gauge of 200 people, is full. In the audience, many activists already won over to the animal cause and a few curious people. Léonie, a law student in Tours, has just joined for the occasion. She would like to specialize in animal rights, convinced that in France “many things still need to be made illegal, such as certain hunting practices”. She came with her friend Lilou. This is their first meeting, with a view to their first presidential vote. “Often, we are taken for enlightened, but when you respect an animal, you respect human beings”, notes Nicole, a 61-year-old activist, praising the program “achievable, supposed, not extremist” by Hélène Thouy.

The Bordeaux lawyer, born in a small Girondin village, handles the art of advocacy. His speeches are more and more polished, between pungent formulas and humor. In the space of a five-year term, his young Animalist Party will have scoured all the elections. After the legislative, European, municipal, Hélène Thouy aims to collect 4 to 5% of the votes in the presidential election. But the one who was hiding at the beginning behind posters with the effigy of cats still has difficulty putting forward her discreet person.

For this election, she is a little more scrutinized by the media without her notoriety taking off. “Only 4 % of people know us and make the connection between my name and the cause that I support”, she explains, basing herself on a study her party commissioned. To remedy this, she is trying to increase her field trips. Even if it means putting up with the crowd of journalists who accompanied her, before her meeting, to the peaceful sanctuary of Le Vernou, located in the middle of the Solognote forest. There, animals rescued from farms, circuses or which were to land at the butcher’s are collected. With her first step at the bedside of donkeys, lambs, cats and pigs, she wanted to show that“aand another life is possible for animals”.

Defections under pressure

In Orléans, the rally has a bitter taste. There are only three weeks left to bring together 500 mayoral sponsorships and thus be able to submit an official candidacy to the Elysée. The operation is badly embarked. For the moment, only 56 sesames are validated by the Constitutional Council. Far from the 300 sponsorship promises claimed at the beginning of January. The race had however started early this summer. In the meantime, many mayors would have withdrawn. The campaign team explains that elected officials have suffered “pressures” ranging from the fear of losing subsidies for the municipality, to the refusal of nomination in the next elections, through the intimidation of hunters.

Activists do not let go and will redouble their efforts, and appeals to mayors without labels. “There will be a moment of excitement, it’s not over,” enthuses Valentine Labourdette, before going on stage to present the youth movement she co-directs, the Animalist Campus. “The vast majority of mayors I’ve had on the phone don’t sponsor anyone. They don’t want to take the risk of marking themselves politically.” notes however his comrade Yazid Aouad.

Saturday morning in Paris, Hélène Thouy had therefore launched a call for help in the form of a macabre happening. The candidate made a “funeral tribute to democratic pluralism”, whom she buried in a coffin in front of the headquarters of the Association of Mayors of France. The hearse was even out. The animalist now calls on mayors to sponsor it rather than supporting candidates who have already exceeded 500 sponsorships such as Emmanuel Macron and Valérie Pécresse. For “disconnect” sponsorships “party logic”she will plead in the future for “citizen sponsorships” where a minimum of 100,000 voter signatures would be required.

At the end of the meeting on Saturday evening, Stéphane, who had come to discover the Animalist Party, “do not regret”. This 50-year-old enjoyed hearing about the “necessary agricultural transition”which the candidate wants to implement by buying back the debt of farmers ready to change the model. “We feel that there is a click and a very strong citizen expectation. It gives us hope for the future.”, positive Hélène Thouy, who has planned three other meetings in the region by the end of the month. Whether it goes through the presidential box or not, the legislative election is already in sight. It is targeting 500 constituencies, three times more than in 2017. If the party remains small, the ambition continues to grow.