The rebellious leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, 70, announced Thursday in Marseille that he will not stand for re-election in his constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône for the legislative elections, specifying in passing the investiture of his campaign director, the MEP Manuel Bompard. “‘So sir, why won’t you be a candidate in the legislative elections?’ I am asked. Because it is Bompard who will be, he is one of the most eminent figures of the new generation, I entrust him to you, he must be elected”, let go of the leader of the France Insoumise, during a “popular aperitif” in the open air: “We will win and I will be Prime Minister”, he concluded, in front of some 300 activists, in the heart of his constituency.
Landed hands down in 2017
With his 22% in the first round of the presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is aiming for a majority in the National Assembly with his union of the lefts (Nupes), had several times hinted that he “was rather preparing for the idea of being Prime Minister than the idea of being a deputy again”. “I think we will be in the second round in at least 80% of the constituencies”, bet Jean-Luc Mélenchon: “We are the favorites, as long as we do not do anything stupid”, he had launched before, believing that these legislative elections, “these are the ones that will give the political mandate”.
He therefore bequeaths to Manuel Bompard this 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, in the popular center of Marseille, which he had won hands down in 2017 (59.85%) and where he exceeded 54% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election on April 10. A result that had “moved a lot”, he confided in voting in the second round, acknowledging to be “a patch here”.
Negotiator for LFI to seal the Nupes
Manuel Bompard, 36, is from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Born in Firminy (Loire), he grew up in Drôme and now has his home base in Toulouse. Campaign director of the rebellious leader during the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, he was in recent days the negotiator for LFI in order to seal the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) with the PS, the PCF and EELV. MEP since 2019, he had been a candidate for the 2017 legislative elections in Haute-Garonne, where he had been beaten by an LREM candidate in the second round.
In 2017, Jean-Luc Mélenchon won this constituency of Marseille in the second round against LREM Corinne Versini. This year, the candidate Nupes will notably face him Najat Akodad (Renaissance, the new LREM) and Solange Biaggi (LR).