Why was there already an En Marche list in Toulouse in 2014?
the election of Emmanuel Macron, the lists since claiming to be part of the Republic on the move have flourished at each ballot. However, Toulouse did not wait for the outbreak of the presidential movement to see marchers attacking the Capitol.
Almost every city in France will have its Walkers at the next municipal elections. A national and relatively recent phenomenon since the President of the Republic founded his political party in April 2016. However, Toulouse did not wait for the advent of this wave to put on its shoes and launch, with great strides, into a battle electoral. Indeed, in 2014 a Toulouse en Marche list! was already running for a few seats in the Capitol. A list carried, among others, by… the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) which, for once, was one step ahead of Emmanuel Macron’s movement.
For the time of an article, the JT therefore turned into an official of the famous “Ministry of Stupid Steps” of Monty Pythons to look into what, behind a common pedestrian reference, differentiates these two ways of apprehending this art of bipedal movement. “It’s not the same way of walking,” immediately reacts Hegoa Garay, a member of the NPA, who shared the top of the list with Ahmed Chouki during the first campaign of Toulouse walkers. “It was a list supported by our party but which was mainly supported by neighborhood associations and representatives of civil society. An idea, like that of the march, which we had long before Macron, ”she laughs. “This name had been the fruit of great discussions. He has a lot for us. The desire to move forward together towards a better world, a relationship to the streets as well as to demonstrations and, finally, a reference to the Marche des beurs. I do not believe it is that of Emmanuel Macron. His way of walking is more mechanical, it is more like a steamroller, ”observes the anti-capitalist activist, whose list had expressed 1.63% of the votes cast.
Hegoa Garay admits to having been surprised when she discovered the title of the President of the Republic’s party. The latter would he have pumped his communication strategy on that of the NPA? “Although it is a coincidence, it makes us laugh. This is also not the first time that political formations share the same name or that they recover the history of the labor movement, ”she philosophizes. So, how to tell the difference, in the Pink City, between an anti-capitalist walker and a macronist walker? The activist has her idea. “You recognize him by what shines in his eyes. For one, it is the prospect of a better world. With the other, it’s the buckle of his shoes, ”slices Hegoa Garay who is also a member of the national leadership of his party. One thing is certain, the NPA would not relaunch today in an electoral campaign under the same banner.