To prevent the RN from being the first opposition force, Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposed to the left to remain united with the Assembly. Unacceptable for the other parties who recall that this option was not in their union agreement.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon did not expect that. At the head of the “New Popular Union” – this broad union of the left for the legislative elections – the ex-presidential candidate thought that the elected LFI would represent the first opposition group in the Assembly. “For me, it was obvious”, he acknowledged Monday at the start of the afternoon. Like many, he had not anticipated the wave of 89 deputies from the National Rally on Sunday evening, at the end of the second round.
To prevent that “the extreme right” becomes the first opposition group, Jean-Luc Mélenchon expressed a “proposal” : the constitution of“one group” from the Nupes to the Assembly. “So that no possible discussion be established (to know) who leads the opposition in the country”, he explained. A gesture “symbolically” and “politically” necessary, judged the Insoumis. However, this was not what was planned: the forces of the left had signed to agree on an “intergroup” in the Assembly. Nothing more.
Not “an injunction”
“It is a proposal and not an injunction”however, said Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “If we do this, we will be consistent with our commitment to those who voted for us”, he said, as if to convince his partners. L’Insoumis also added that “each party” could “have a self-organizing delegation”. “Were we to lose some material resources on this occasion. I think it’s derisory in relation to the challenge that looms before us.”he insisted, specifying that he was speaking “with the strength of someone who has nothing more at stake for him”.
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The various left-wing parties, however, immediately closed the door. “The left is plural, it is represented in its diversity in the National Assembly. It is a force at the service of the French people. Wanting to remove this diversity is a mistake, and I oppose it.said Valérie Rabault, the president of the PS group, on Twitter. “It is his old Trotskyist methods that stand out”taunts a socialist executive. “We were talking about an intergroup, which presupposes groups… and concerted decisions”blows an EELV executive.
The PCF also refused. On France Inter Tuesday morning, its leader, Fabien Roussel, recalled the “electoral agreement” passed and having allowed “more than double the number of left-wing deputies“. However, “there is not a single party, nor a single group. It is important that there are four groups in the National Assembly to represent us, to bring our differences to life“, said the elected, who recalls that the parties will be able to unite on certain subjects.
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Faced with these reactions, Jean-Luc Mélenchon replied on Twitter, recalling that he had “not proposed the dissolution of the parties but the formation of a common parliamentary group”. “Each one will of course be able to form a separate delegation to the National Assembly as we already do each in the European Parliament”, he repeated. To convince their partners, Mathilde Panot, the president of the LFI group, proposed on Twitter the establishment of a “rotating presidency”.
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