After the presentation of the candidates for the legislative elections as well as a long-awaited official photo, the rebellious chief Jean-Luc Mélenchon concluded with a speech the convention of nomination of the New popular ecological and social union (NUPES).
In his speech, which lasted more than an hour, Jean-Luc Mélenchon welcomed the global agreement concluded with the left-wing parties having given up standing in the legislative elections so that only one left-wing candidate would be present in each constituency.
“We are writing a page in the political history of France, and want to write a page in the history of France,” he said. “It is the first time in the history of our country that there is a global agreement with a common candidate in all the constituencies,” he added.
The leader of NUPES also pointed out that this agreement was reached in just thirteen days. “It took us thirteen days […] and I will even add thirteen nights”, welcomed Jean Luc Mélenchon.
However, and by responding to several rumors circulating on social networks, the rebel in chief considered that this alliance is not only “electoral”. From now on, he plans to make it a “considerable political event in the history of France”.
The war in Ukraine, retirement, Covid-19…
During his speech, Jean-Luc Mélenchon also spoke about several facts that marked Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, namely, the war in Ukraine, the possible retirement at 65 or even the Covid-19 crisis.
The NUPES leader wants to win a majority in the National Assembly to prevent the re-elected president from launching his pension reform project. “We don’t want retirement at 65,” he said.
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced this “war of aggression” by Vladimir Putin. Moreover, the Insoumis dedicated “the fervor of the Popular Union to the Ukrainian people”.
Finally, during his meeting, the former presidential candidate warned of the dangers of global warming and this advance of Covid-19. “Covid-19 was an appetizer […] we will have other pandemics,” he said.
Lack of legislative candidacy
The day after the results of the first round of the Presidential, Jean-Luc Mélenchon asked the French to “elect him Prime Minister” considering the legislative elections as a third round.
“This third round, democracy offers it to us, these are the legislative elections,” he said from the Docks d’Aubervilliers.
To achieve this, the Insoumis has confirmed that he will not be a candidate in the elections of June 12 and 19.
Nevertheless, to establish his legitimacy in this very important position, Jean-Luc Mélenchon relied on the score obtained in the presidential election. “Out of 24 Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic, 6 were not deputies”, he also argued.
As usual, the former candidate for the presidential election did not hesitate to throw a few spades at Marine Le Pen. He considered that the vote of the National Rally for the legislative “is useless”.
“When you elect deputies, they don’t come, they don’t do the job,” he denounced, castigating the inaction of Marine Le Pen and RN deputies. “There’s no point in voting for them (the National Rally, editor’s note), since they won’t do anything,” added the leader of NUPES.