France: Fabien Roussel, survival candidate of the Communist Party
Audio 02:49
Fabien Roussel, PCF candidate for the 2022 presidential election © Aurélien Devernoix / RFI
By: Aurélien Devernoix
7 mins
He is a newcomer to the presidential race.
Fabien Roussel was invested to represent the French Communist Party a month ago.
It had been fifteen years since there had been a PCF candidate in the race for the Elysee.
The illustration of a new strategy of the Communists and of overcoming the trauma of the 2007 presidential election.
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Last Communist candidate in the race for the Elysee Palace, Marie-George Buffet at the time had not even gathered 2% of the vote.
During the next two presidential elections, the PCF had therefore chosen to step aside behind Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
But that was before the arrival of Fabien Roussel at the head of the party in 2018. He had campaigned with a promise: to restore luster to a party that has been in survival mode for years.
According to Fabien Roussel, the way to get there is for the PCF to be more present, especially in the media, and for that the presidential election is the best springboard.
And he, the former journalist, the ideal candidate, even if he says that "
among the Communists, you do not design your career, you are chosen
"
.
A candidacy that makes cringe on the side of the rebels of Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Jean-Luc Mélenchon may well multiply the calls for the renewal of the alliance with communist executives and activists, they have largely decided to go it alone this time and 73% to designate Fabien Roussel as their candidate.
It has been the cold war since.
According to a rebellious executive, there is no longer any contact with Fabien Roussel.
Relations have, it must be said, never been simple.
In 2012, for example, the attempted parachuting of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the North where he had come to try to prevent the election to the National Assembly of Marine Le Pen, had turned into disaster and left a lot of bitterness in the communists of the region, including a certain Fabien Roussel.
Fabien Roussel and the communist leaders also still have the legislative elections of 2017 in their hearts. The negotiations did not go well with the rebels and on the PCF side, it is estimated that more seats should have been obtained.
So no question of letting oneself be trodden again.
Having a presidential candidate makes it possible to assert oneself politically, to have a headliner and to negotiate agreements more easily with other left-wing parties.
These negotiations promise to be delicate, communists and rebellious being undoubtedly promised to forge alliances at the local level.
From where a will not to be insulted too publicly.
A witness candidacy of Fabien Roussel?
Fabien Roussel “assumes” the fact of being a negotiating lever for the legislative elections, but above all he asserts that he wants to launch an operation to reconquer the Communist Party with voters from the popular classes who have chosen for many the path of abstention. The polls are, however, for the moment final: barely 1% of voting intention, which is already too much for La France Insoumise (LFI) where we promise to do the accounts if Jean-Luc Mélenchon comes again narrowly missing the second round.
Here again Fabien Roussel assumes, just as when he decides to launch his campaign on the question of security, which, according to the admission of one of his communist comrades in the assembly "
raised a few eyebrows"
, the rebels l 'accusing their side of being "
the stepping stone of the Socialist Party
".
On the contrary, supporters of Fabien Roussel rely on "
his political sense and his freedom of tone
" to avoid humiliation in the presidential election.
The survival of his political career is undoubtedly at stake, but it may also be that of the Communist Party, where supporters of the common path with Jean-Luc Mélenchon could be tempted to leave the ship in the event of failure.
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French politics
Presidential France 2022
Jean-Luc Mélenchon