The former candidate of the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) in the presidential election, Philippe Poutou, will be a candidate in the European elections in Belgium, in third position on the list carried by the Anticapitalist Left, announced on Saturday April 13, one of the two branches of the French NPA, in a press release.
“Philippe Poutou supports a political outlet for social and ecological struggles from an internationalist perspective”says the organization.
The NPA broke up at the end of 2022 into two distinct groups: one, the NPA-B, notably represented by the former presidential candidates, Olivier Besancenot and Philippe Poutou, in favor of a rapprochement with La France insoumise (LFI ). And the other, the NPA-C, which refuses any agreement with parties it considers “reformists”.
The NPA-B chose not to present a candidate in France for these European elections (which will take place from June 6 to 9) and failed in its objective of forming an alliance with LFI. The NPA-B “will decide on its call for a precise vote before the end of April”he specifies.
Virulent projections
Philippe Poutou, municipal councilor of Bordeaux, and automobile worker fired in 2019, promises to fight “for an anti-capitalist Europe which is opposed to capitalist and liberal Europe; for an ecological, feminist, anti-racist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist Europe; a Europe which fights against policies of closing borders, which defends freedom of movement and the welcome of all”.
On April 10, 2022, Philippe Poutou won 0.7% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election. This was a score lower than his candidacies in 2017 (1.2% of the votes) and 2012 (1.2%) when he succeeded Olivier Besancenot as candidate of the party heir to the Revolutionary Communist League ( LCR).
As during the 2017 campaign, the former employee of the Ford factory in Blanquefort, in Gironde, stood out for his virulent outbursts against his competitors and the government. “Are you talking about the fascist, racist, accused of sexual assault? »he told Léa Salamé, when the journalist announced the arrival of far-right candidate Eric Zemmour on the set of the show “Elysée 2022”. “The police kill, obviously the police kill,” he also declared in October 2021, which earned him a complaint from the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, following which he was summoned by the police.