Paris (AFP)

For his first Fête de l'Humanité as national secretary of the PCF this weekend, Fabien Roussel hopes to convince of the "usefulness" of electoral marginalized communists, advocating for the left "practical work" approaching municipal .

"Of course, we are far from the account": Fabien Roussel does not deny that his arrival at the head of the party, at the Congress last November, did not reverse the trend for a party that obtained the starved score of 2 , 5% of European votes in May.

The campaign, led by Ian Brossat whose notoriety has increased significantly, "allowed us to remobilize militant forces," says Roussel to AFP, promising that "everything is just beginning." "We must now demonstrate our usefulness, appear as a solution for those who suffer," concedes Ian Brossat.

"The balance sheet of Fabien Roussel for now, despite its slogan + PCF is back +, is the European," criticizes a member of the National Council - the parliament of the party, which had supported the re-election of Pierre Laurent as national secretary for fear of seeing the party fall back on itself.

But after pushing for an autonomous list in the European elections, in the hope of offering a better visibility to the PCF, Fabien Roussel multiplies hands extended to the other parties of the left, calling them for example to carry out in common "practical work "on pensions. Objective, he explains: to oppose government reforms with "concrete proposals".

Roussel will insist on peace and ecology, now a must-have theme after the breakthrough of EELV in May (13.5%). A climate walk

- Appeasement -

He will do several at the big meeting on Saturday on the big stage of the Humanity Festival, placed this year before the speech to the left parties. Apart from the purchasing power, a subject that is dear to the former boss of the Northern Federation, Fabien

is also for the first time organized Friday at the Feast.

The development of rail, the taxation of kerosene or free public transport are all green measures requested by the Communists in recent months, said Alain Pagano, who chairs the Ecology Commission at the National Council.

Nuclear support, a matter of disagreement with EELV, is not a blunder on his feet, he believes: "For Giec experts, it is an immediate solution against global warming, and we do not want to nuclear ad vitam aeternam, it is necessary to find less negative energies ".

Communists also rely on municipal elections to recall the strength of their local roots in ambitious environmentalists and insubordinate France. "800 mayors, 7,000 elected: if there is one step where we are useful, it is the municipal," says Ian Brossat.

"We must rebuild with a horizon beyond the municipal," warns the former MEP Marie-Pierre Vieu. "The substantive work demanded of Congress on the meaning of the communist struggle in today's society can not be more than the addition of proposals," she adds.

Fabien Roussel's speech to the left parties will intervene in any case in a more peaceful atmosphere than the previous edition, when insubordinate France had boycotted the meeting after a controversy on immigration. If Jean-Luc Mélenchon has not announced his arrival, the new coordinator of the movement Adrien Quatennens will be present, and will participate Sunday in a debate bringing together a panel of left-wing leaders.

With 400 booths and over 500 guests (former President of Brazil Dilma Roussef, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, economist Thomas Porcher, former Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, sociologist Philippe Martinez, sociologists Pinçon-Charlot ...), the Feast of Humanity will assume more than ever its role of "crossroads of discussion of the left" wants to believe Patrick Le Hyaric, director of the daily.

© 2019 AFP