Philippe Poutou was in a meeting at the Salle Jean-Mermoz, at Toulousethis Thursday, April 7, 2022. One of the very last campaign meetings of the candidate of the New Anti-Capitalist Party, which brought together more than a thousand people, three days before the first round of the Presidential 2022.

Young supporters

Among them, many young people, like Married, 20 years. On Sunday, she will vote for the first time for a presidential election and already knows that she will slip a Poutou ballot in the ballot box.

“I also went to the meeting of Melenchon at the Capitol, indicates the young woman. But I feel closer to Poutou. His anti-capitalism, his radicalism, his frankness speak to me more. »

“Poutou has the same experience as us”

Further on, Yves, a 64-year-old retiree, says he is a “sympathizer” of the New Anti-Capitalist Party. “Poutou is cash, I like his direct tone. ” Jean-François, 62, agrees: “He has the same language as us, the same experience as us, he has been bored going to the factory all his life. Like us. »

“We have to prepare for the sequel”

The candidate entered the Jean-Mermoz room surrounded by activists. Several speeches preceded the speech of the presidential candidate. Stage location, Pauline Salinguespokesperson for Philippe Poutou and specialist educator at Toulouse University Hospital raised the mood.

“We have to prepare the next step today, organize it, organizing the response, challenge all left-wing organizations, faced with a government that is ready for anything”, she hammered, also denouncing police violence and an “increasingly authoritarian regime”.

“Arrogance” of power

Philippe Poutou then took the floor, wielding humor as usual, ironically welcoming a campaign that had “allowed debate”, before taking stock of the last five-year term

“We are coming out of a five-year term of government of Macron and all his friends, on them paid very dearly. With social setbacks and gifts for riches. »

“We have talked a lot about Macron’s arrogance, and it is true that he is very unpleasant. But it is above all the arrogance of a power, of a social class that does not care what can happen. pass through society. Regardless of the consequences of their enrichment, we are in this form of violence!”

Large fortunes targeted

The great fortunes of France have also taken it for their rank. Referring to the ranking of the richest personalities in France, Philippe Poutou sold to a small calculation, based on the fortune of Charles Ruggierri, a time at the helm of the Korian group, whose fortune is estimated at 1.2 billion euros.

“We are demanding 1800 euros per month as the minimum wage. It represents 55,500 years of work. If we go back 55,000 years, we arrive at the moment when Homo sapiens arrives in the Dordogne valley. It’s as if we started working at that moment, without spending anything. This is what the fortune of 91 represents^and of the rank. And we say it’s not normal. This money may be earned legally, but it is not earned normally. It’s stolen from the community. »

Pensions, working hours, taxes, denunciation of “capitalist property” and wage inequalities, but also environmental proposals and international issues… main themes of the NPA program.

“We are not withdrawing”

This is the third presidential campaign in which Philippe Poutou participate. In 2012, he obtained 1.15% of the vote and 1.09% in 2017. For this election, he is on average credited with 1% of voting intentions in the polls. But don’t intend to let go of the piece

“We will call to vote for us, we will not withdraw. Because precisely one could pose the problems that others would not suppose. We do not say that the useful vote is the NPA. But we are convinced that it has a use. »

Also preparing for the future, the candidate expressed his conviction that “all the problems cannot be resolved through elections: the only political force that can have things evaluated is the social movement, it is the strength of the oppressed who must be brought to the fore. »

Rebuild the left

It is also called for the construction of a new left.

“During months of campaigning where we were told that the left was weak, the left was powerless. We think that the left pays for its denials, its betrayals when it was in power. And we would like to take stock of this left there But we must not mope about the current situation, we must think about what we are doing. The perspective is not to rebuild what we have just lost, but let’s discuss what we want to rebuild. : a fighting left that helps to regain strength and confidence.”

The candidate thus called for meetings on the first round show. “We are not going to wait five years. We will have to fight on all terrains and that, we have to prepare for it. We think we have to address the whole left, the oppressed, all those who say it can’t go on like this. »

It’s on a International taken up in chorus by the assembly that the meeting in the Jean-Mermoz room ended.

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