Elected representatives from all the "Republican arc" met Wednesday night in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, for a public meeting "little banal", by its political eclecticism, intended to launch the collection of signatures against the privatization of Paris Airport (ADP). "We are in an unusual meeting, with parliamentarians of all these sensibilities, centrist parliamentarians, right-wing parliamentarians, we are in a rather unusual configuration," noted MP PCF Stéphane Peu, organizer of the event, in introducing the meeting.
Purpose of the meeting: Launch the campaign to gather in nine months the 4.7 million signatures needed to hold a referendum against the privatization of ADP.
"The best interests of the nation"
Sitting on the scene of the Labor Exchange, in front of about 250 people including some trade unionists waving on the occasion of the CGT flags: the deputies LR Gilles Carrez and François Cornut-Gentille, LFI deputies Clémentine Autain and Eric Coquerel, the first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure, the national secretary of PCF Fabien Roussel, in particular.
In the room were also Senators Esther Benbassa (EELV) and Sophie Taillé-Polian (Generations), the patron of PS senators Patrick Kanner or MP Boris Vallaud (PS). In the press, Eric Coquerel hailed a "historic" meeting, saying he had never participated in a meeting with elected officials from different political backgrounds, moreover in a labor exchange. Cement of this ecumenism, "the defense of what is considered the best interests of the nation", said Stéphane Peu.
Already several hundreds of thousands of signatures
Asked about BFM, Marine Le Pen denounced the "sectarianism" of the organizers, the National Gathering was not invited. His party had urged the French on June 13 to support the initiative, saying it was "necessary to send a strong signal to the government". Initiated by PS parliamentarians, the referendum of shared initiative (RIP) was started two months ago with deputies and senators ranging from LFI to LR.
The opponents of the projects denounce a "financial absurdity" and the abandonment to the private of a strategic tool, at the time of the ecological transition. They also oppose the privatization of a company that is a "de facto monopoly". About 200,000 signatures have been collected since the opening of the collection, according to the CGT.