Alexis Delafontaine // Photo credit: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP
LFI MP Raquel Garrido, who had the misfortune of criticizing Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is sanctioned by the office of her parliamentary group. She is out of action for four months and will therefore no longer have the right to speak on behalf of the group. Alexis de La Fontaine, you are at the Assembly. This decision revives the dissensions at the heart of France Insoumise.
Two camps oppose the sanction of Raquel Garrido. Those close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon have still not digested the MP’s criticisms against the Insoumis leader. She doesn’t play the collective role enough, says one of them, who half-heartedly accuses her colleague of betrayal. The majority of the Insoumis group stands behind this line and approves the sanction.
A Mélenchon clan that wants to dissuade any further protests
“I completely agree with the sanction and in fact, I find that we have been waiting for a while for there to be a sanction because there are lies. The internal democracy of a group, this is not that when the decisions in the end end up in the starting position that we ourselves had. When there are decisions that are made and we do not agree with the decisions, it they must be applied”, firmly explains Antoine Léaument, LFI deputy for Essonne.
With this sentence, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s clan wants to dissuade any further protests. But not enough to scare the rebels who are stepping up publicly to defend Raquel Garrido. “A shame”, according to Danielle Simonnet. Clémentine Autain says she is “devastated” and François Ruffin asks for “the price scale in the event of disagreement with the leader, in the minority in the party”. Their strategy is simple: call the voters as witnesses to put pressure on Jean-Luc Mélenchon.