Anti-capitalist candidate Philippe Poutou said Thursday in Toulouse that the left should “rebuild as broadly as possible” after the second round of the presidential election.
“After the elections, we don’t want to wait five more years,” Philippe Poutou told the press before the last big meeting of his campaign. “It will be necessary to rebuild as broadly as possible with all the political forces of the left”, he declared, in front of the prospect of a second round opposing Emmanuel Macron to Marine Le Pen, without representative of the left.
“The NPA vote has a purpose”
Energetic and laughing, the ex-employee of Ford in Gironde defended the need for a “political tool to defend the camp of the oppressed”. “We are not saying that the useful vote is the NPA, but on the other hand, the NPA vote has a utility”, he retorted, like the day before at his home in Bordeaux, in the face of calls from supporters of Jean -Luc Mélenchon to join him in the first round of the election.
“What we need is a salary, not a job”
In front of a room filled with more than 1,000 people, the far-left candidate made a “summary” of his campaign, recalling the main principles of his program of rupture based on fierce anti-capitalism.
“What we need is a salary, not a job,” he said, one hand in his pocket, insisting on the reduction of working hours and a retirement age. set at age 60.
By videoconference, several representatives of former SAM employees, who have occupied this Aveyron foundry since its judicial liquidation, i.e. 136 days, spoke to NPA supporters. The meeting was also preceded by a tribute to Alain Krivine, a figure of the Revolutionary Communist League, who died on March 12.
Philippe Poutou also joked about “a great campaign, with a lot of debates and confrontations and a president who has been accountable for his five-year term”, causing laughter in the Toulouse hall.
“From Monday, there is a high probability that we will disappear from the screens”, slipped the candidate credited with 1 or 1.5% of the voting intentions in the first round.