In the 14th district of the Rhône, the candidate of the Nupes (New popular ecological and social union) will finally be the Insoumis Idir Boumertit, 4th deputy of the PCF town hall and who was the campaign director of Taha Bouhafs.

Initially invested by LFI, the militant journalist withdrew his candidacy on Tuesday, denouncing "unprecedented" attacks.

The next day, LFI announced the opening of an internal investigation after accusations of sexual violence against him.

Also vice-president of the Metropolis of Lyon, Ms. Picard, supported by the communist leader Fabien Roussel, hoped to replace Taha Bouhafs as the candidate of Nupes.

But his hope was quickly dashed.

“At the announcement of a mediatized and divisive parachuting, which can only divide, we had decided to maintain our candidacy, the most effective in beating the right and the far right”, recalled Monday Ms. Picard in a press release.

"The legitimate candidacy of a woman, a committed, combative PCF mayor, seems to pose a problem for Jean-Luc Mélenchon", but "in this situation of division on the left and despite the very many support expressed this weekend, I choose to preserve and continue the work in Vénissieux and in the Metropolis", explains the mayor of one of the last bastions of municipal communism.

"This is why, with Guillaume Dumoulin, we are withdrawing our candidacy (...). Idir Boumertit will therefore be the candidate of Nupes", concludes Ms. Picard.

In the presidential elections, Jean-Luc Mélenchon came out on top in the first round with 48.78% of the vote, ahead of Emmanuel Macron (17.97%) and Marine Le Pen (15.33%), Fabien Roussel collecting 3.45%.

© 2022 AFP