Mélenchon at Matignon, the last “poker move” of the rebellious leader?
For his adversaries, he’s a bit like the villain of action movies, the one who always gets up despite the flurry of blows, and who is hard to knock down for good. After his defeat by a hair in the first round of the presidential election, the third in three candidacies, his enemies hoped to have finished Jean-Luc Mélenchon. But on the stage of the Olympe de Gouges room in Paris, Wednesday evening, the boss of La France insoumise was in good shape, and very fit.
Newspaper in hand, the tribune makes the room laugh by ironically discussing articles and photos of him that he does not find to his liking. Then returns to the evening of April 10. “To the general amazement, when we gave our dead, non-existent, martyred family. Suddenly what happens? Three blocks pop up! “, he launches this evening at the microphone, boasting of his 22% in the first round of the presidential election. “We are now in a position to make history, and we had to understand that right away, we can turn the tables. We are an alternative! »
“We lost the Mélenchon battle at the Elysée, we want to get Mélenchon to Matignon”
As an old trickster of politics, and despite the failure of the month of April, the boss of La France insoumise had this sacred find to quickly fall back on his feet and find the media front: “Elect me Prime Minister”. On the strength of his third place in the presidential, the defeated candidate launched this formula to the French, without even taking the time to wait for the end of the second round. “It shows that we are not letting go, and that we really aspire to govern. We lost the Mélenchon battle at the Elysée, but we are determined to get Mélenchon to Matignon, ”says Danielle Simonnet, Nupes candidate in the 15th district of Paris, shortly before the meeting.
In the days following the election of Emmanuel Macron, the rebellious leader and his comrades hammered this slogan as soon as they had the opportunity on all the sets taking advantage of the space offered by their opponents. “The right was KO standing, Marine Le Pen strangely absent, and LREM was treading water while waiting for the new government. We must recognize this talent for having taken the breakaway when everyone was looking at each other in the peloton, ”assures PS senator Rachid Temal, however stingy with praise for his former socialist comrade.
On the false flat, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has indeed achieved a tour de force: to unite (behind him), which many thought impossible after a stormy presidential campaign on the left. Former socialist, environmentalist and communist rivals have swept their criticisms under the rug on secularism and a supposed “complacency” of the tribune with regard to Vladimir Putin, as well as certain programmatic differences, to top and campaign together under the banner of the Nupes (New popular ecological and social union). “Many thought that the left and the ecologists were irreconcilable. Those who said that are at Macron, and we are not complaining at all, ”advances the boss of EELV Julien Bayou, this Wednesday evening.
Even among the opponents, we recognize the blow made by the rebellious. “He put his plan in place, the undisputed leader of the left. He had the political intelligence to reach out, even to those who prevented him from being in the second round, without apparent resentment”, breathes Benjamin Cauchy, former figure of the yellow vests, today Reconquest candidate in the Aisne.
“Hyper-personalization can mobilize an anti-Mélenchon electorate”
The left will therefore have a common candidacy in the 577 constituencies on 12th and 19th June next. With the hope of obtaining a majority, to convince Emmanuel Macron to name himself Jean-Luc Mélenchon at Matignon, or at least, to become the first opposition force in the National Assembly. Because the polls, certainly flattering, have shown that the left is still far from obtaining a majority of seats on the evening of the second round. Would this perspective already force the rebellious to change the initial discourse? “There have always been these two options on the table: to govern or to be an important blocking group against the policy of Emmanuel Macron, social destruction and climate inaction”, sweeps Danielle Simonnet. Despite unexpected polls a few months ago, the strategy does not only make people happy on the left.
Well pushed by certain socialist tenors, dissenting candidacies will face those invested with Nupes. Others believe that the figure of Mélenchon could be a foil for some voters. “To avoid the demobilization of his electorate, he opted for the hyper-personalization of the ballot. This nice game of poker can also make you smile because the rebellious have spent their time denouncing the presidential monarchy, ironically Rachid Temal. But it is above all a double-edged sword, because it can mobilize an anti-Mélenchon electorate, ”he adds.
Within Renaissance (formerly La République en Marche), we are now attacking from this angle. Several macronists launched this Wednesday on Twitter an anti-Nupes operation, editor of the posters of Mélenchon torn and critic of the program carried by the rebellious, with this play on words: “We are not fooled”. On the right, others relativize the good current polls. “This cartel of the left creates a dynamic, that’s for sure. But what is true at the national level around the headliner Mélenchon is not true at the local level, in the circus where the rebellious candidates are complete strangers, “says Philippe Gosselin, deputy Les Républicains de la Manche.
At the microphone, this Wednesday evening, the person concerned remained true to himself, very confident for the future. “The French people have understood the appeal that has been launched [pour les législatives], that it is indeed a third round. It’s not an abuse of language, ”he said, before typing a little on the journalists. “They all write the same thing, Mélenchon dreams of Matignon, it’s better to say ‘he doesn’t believe it himself, he’s too smart to believe it'”. What if the bet was really lost? While he announced to 20 Minutes that 2022 would be his last presidential candidacy, many already thought that the rebellious will indeed be there in five years. For yet another episode in the Mélenchon saga.