Fabien Roussel criticized on the left for his call to “invade” the prefectures against inflation

2023-09-14 18:01:55
Fabien Roussel during the Communist Party summer university, in Strasbourg, August 26, 2023. FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Those who were wondering how Fabien Roussel was going to mark his political comeback are sure. After having, in 2022, given a big kick to his own political family by denouncing the “left of benefits”the national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF) chose, this year, an insurrectional message to protest against inflation. “Everywhere, we must wake up state services, invade them even if necessary, going all the way back to Macron”harangued the communist in a interview at HumanityWednesday September 13. “I call for rallies in front of prefectures, supermarkets, gas stations. The anger of hunger threatens. The PCF calls on the President of the Republic to hear them and respond urgently”he continued.

A message repeated Thursday morning, on Franceinfo – “We call for mobilization, to invade gas stations, supermarkets, prefectures” – with, in addition, a reference to the words of The Internationalses “hunger convicts” and his “eruption of the end”. “On gasoline, we get plucked like poultry. What are we doing ? For me it’s a question of self-defense, we get attacked, extorted, robbed and we shouldn’t say anything…”, he burst out. He calls for a reduction in fuel taxes, a regulated price and a tax on “ superprofits » tankers.

The communist is often seen as a man of the left preferred by the right, among elected officials but also in the polls. Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, in the midst of his personal political re-entry, must debate with him on Sunday at the Fête de l’Humanité, a privileged treatment if we consider that the invitations made to the majority and the right, to summer universities of La France insoumise (LFI) and Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, were declined, in the wake of the controversy surrounding the rapper Médine, accused of anti-Semitism after the publication of a tweet. This position as a friendly left-wing leader makes us forget, no doubt, that Fabien Roussel remains a “red”, determined not to appear too “soft” this fall, and, what’s more, accustomed to media stunts.

Isolation

This is not the first time that the communist has called for mobilizations. In October 2021, against a backdrop of soaring prices, he had already encouraged people to gather in front of the prefectures to protest against the increase in energy prices. But without going so far as to talk about” to invade “ buildings housing public authorities. The choice is risky for someone who forged his political identity through contrast with Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Fabien Roussel is the one who refuses to say «the police tue» and courts a so-called peripheral France, presented as concerned with order and security. Today he finds himself calling for insurrection in the very places of this France – supermarkets, gas stations, prefectures. All that is missing is the roundabout to fully mobilize the imagination of the “yellow vest” uprisings.

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