2023-07-06 10:30:01
In a country stunned by five days of urban riots, the left is not reassuring. Cut in two on the question of the republican order, it gives the impression of having lost its compass, while its positions, on such a theme, should weigh in the public debate. Jean-Luc Mélenchon has in fact endorsed the violence caused by the death of Nahel M., killed by a police officer after a refusal to comply. He just asked the ” younger “ not “not touch the schools, to libraries and gymnasiums, presented as “our common good”. A “Call for Calm” launched by most of the other parties, it opposed “Call for Justice” pointing out the responsibility of the police and considering that « c[’étaient] the poor who rise up[aient] ».
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Very quickly, the leaders of the socialist, communist and ecologist parties, all members of the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), stood out. Communist Fabien Roussel was one of the sharpest, believing that there were at least two lefts, “his and the [leur] ». The former President of the Republic, François Hollande, recalled that when “cohesion and image” of the country were affected, “the call for calm and unity” should prevail.
This is not the first time that differences have agitated the electoral coalition launched by Jean-Luc Mélenchon the day after his third defeat in the presidential election. The dispute is however so existential that it is difficult to see how the Nupes can resist it. The attack, Tuesday July 4, of the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, considering that La France insoumise (LFI) “do not position themselves[ait] not in the republican field” sums up what is at stake: the incompatibility between an insurrectionary left which is counting on the rise of violence and encouraging it in an attempt to overthrow the regime and a governing left which aspires to change through the ballot box.
A year later, a breakup announced
In a position of strength a year ago, the leader of the “rebellious” is now the victim of his strategy. He who claims to defend working-class neighborhoods pretended not to see that the first victims of the abuses committed were the inhabitants of these neighborhoods. Powerless to steer the movement, he is now taken from behind by the very strong demand for republican order that is rising in public opinion. Violence, especially against public buildings, is massively condemned by the French, regardless of their political affiliation.
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The feat achieved by Jean-Luc Mélenchon in rallying the left behind his name on the occasion of the 2022 legislative elections was based on three elements: his charisma, the strong demand for unity from voters and the survival reflex of the government parties which otherwise they risked disappearing. A year later, the unilateral affirmation of a radical line that did not allow for any discussion and the leader’s retreat around an increasingly restricted circle of followers heralded a break.
The first sign of this is the constitution of a plural leftist list, excluding LFI, in the senatorial elections in September. The second is the desire of ecologists, communists and an increasingly large proportion of socialists to form independent lists in the European elections in June. Their hope is to build another union of the left, without Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The sterilization of the debate that the latter imposes has become so disabling that this clarification appears urgent.
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