The deputy of the North and national secretary of the PCF, clashes in the middle of his colleagues of Nupes. Freer in his speech, less in partisan strategies, he tries to put the popular and middle classes back at the center of the left. Even if it means sometimes feeling lonely…all while he dreams of a powerful coalition.
Fabien Roussel: a name known to all French people since the presidential election, despite a score of 2.28% in the first round. Beautiful face, natural sympathy, an old-fashioned outspokenness, the boss of the Communists does not like to nitpick: “I am not going to comment on the attitudes of each other, of who helps whom in the Assembly. I say hello and goodbye to everyone; there is a minimum of courtesy to be had in the Assembly that the French wanted in their image. ” He adds, wearily: “I have distances with political parties contrary to my opinions, but when one sits together, one needs a minimum of politeness. »
For him, it’s simple: “My speech is focused on two points: the social and the security of the French. I want to make ends meet. “Turkish head of certain LFI activists, vilified by others for his remarks going against Chef Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel continues on his way, while wanting to win the Nupes: “I will be clear: I want the united forces of the left wins, that is to say, to make the most useful, the most constructive contributions, whether people live in the city or in the countryside. Because if this alliance allowed us to gain deputies, we did not gain voters; that’s the whole paradox of what we’ve managed to do. »
After the criticisms addressed to him, the communist believes in this coalition: “This alliance arouses immense hope and I hope that it will translate into a majority. ” This does not prevent him from asserting himself within a group made up of a majority of LFI: “Sorry if some take criticism, opinions badly, but they are there to make this union progress and be the majority in the country. . »
“Some speeches do not pass the ring road”
Within the Insoumis, one personality caught his attention: “François [Ruffin] and I are in fairly close territories – semi-urban, rural – and there are many constituencies of this type with specific problems, particularly related to the cost of gasoline for example. This is our specificity; I would like us to be able to speak as much to the French about these territories as those from the big cities who are also suffering from the decline in public services and the State. »
The Communist Party remains his priority, he who worked to put it back on its feet: “The challenge we have at the PCF is to speak as much to Seine-Saint-Denis as to the Somme or to Puy-de- Dome. “But if Fabien Roussel puts forward the Nupes and the bichonne, that does not prevent him from making two or three reproaches to him:” The Nupes had deputies elected in large cities – sometimes parachuted, without any anchoring in the field – just because they were members of this union – so much the better – but in peripheral France, that is not possible. The candidates we have to present must have local roots and bring the problems experienced by these inhabitants. »
Its guideline: “talk to everyone”. An example: “Medical deserts [qui] are a real nationwide issue. “Another: national education:” Terminal students from a high school in Seine-Saint-Denis could not pass their oral mathematics because the entire jury was absent! They were unable to replace them. It’s the same thing in the North. ” The deputy wants that ” [s]we left carry this anger in the face of the abandonment of the State. »
La Nupes takes a small one behind the ear: “Some speeches do not pass the ring road. I’m not going to anathematize, but I’m calling for everyone to be able to talk and start from their problems. The problems of working classes and the middle classes in rural areas have many points in common and I want a discourse that takes up these points in common. »
Defender of an abandoned working class, their tears dried by Marine Le Pen, the boss of the Communists wants to bring it back into his fold: “During the presidential election, I was the only left-wing candidate to make the great oral of farmers, hunters, rural communities, and they regret that the left does not speak to them. I want the Nupes to succeed but as national secretary of the PCF, I would like my party to be at the forefront. He appeals to the “Nupes [de] respect[r] the set of sensitivities and discourses instead of merging[re] in LFI” but remains lucid: “The left has always suffered from the hegemony of one party over the others. In any case, I remain open, because I want us to move forward. »
Explaining that there “exists the same anxieties in the suburbs and in rural areas, namely not feeling respected”, he refers them side by side and dares to draw a parallel: “We must be able to talk to one as much as ‘to the other. In rural areas there are cultures, traditions which must be respected and which I respect. In the suburbs, there is a population that lives together but feels stigmatized because they live in the suburbs and I denounce it. I share the struggles of my colleagues from Saint-Denis. »
And on the votes in the Assembly and the Senate? “We will work together with the Communist senators and deputies. We will vote for the amendments that will go in the direction of the French and we will judge on paper. We are very respectful of parliamentary debate and we want to bring it to life. A last nod to some of his colleagues? “We are not in a culture of blocking and messing up the National Assembly. We want to move forward. We are not a force of opposition but of proposal. »