The left divided in the face of the Adrien Quatennens case

Europe 1 with AFP 08:50, September 19, 2022

Figure of the young guard of La France insoumise (LFI), the deputy Adrien Quatennens announced Sunday that he was setting himself "withdrawn from his function of coordinator" of the movement, acknowledging violence against his wife.

In a long press release published on Twitter on Sunday, the deputy from the North returned, "for the sake of transparency and appeasement" he said, to "the facts which can" be reproached to him "and which led to the filing by his wife with a handrail revealed this week by "

".

The chosen one thus evokes “disputes” since the announcement by his wife of his desire to divorce, specifying for example having “grabbed his wrist” during one of them.

He also admits having "gave him a slap", "a year ago", "in a context of extreme tension and mutual aggression".

"I deeply regretted this gesture" which "never happened again", he underlines.

Adrien Quatennens also concedes having "sent too many messages" to his wife "to try to convince her that our difficulties as a couple could be overcome".

"I am a man of dialogue. (...) I hate violence in general and especially against women", he defends himself, presenting "again (s) excuses" to his wife.

>> READ ALSO - INFO EUROPE 1 - Domestic violence: Faure calls on Quatennens to "stand back"

“I could turn my back, minimize the facts and wait for the storm to pass”, writes the deputy again, denouncing “infamous speculations” about him.

"But because I am politically responsible and I want to set an example to which I want to assign myself and which has always been my line of conduct, I draw the political consequences", he continues, indicating therefore put "withdrawn" from his function as coordinator, "to protect the movement, its militants (...)".

No legal proceedings in progress 

“This decision, which we welcome, was taken in consultation with the authorities of the movement and will be followed by the provisions necessary for the good animation of our movement”, soberly commented La France insoumise in a press release.

Adrien Quatennens' lawyer, Jade Dousselin, for her part specified in a press release that she was not aware "to date" of "the existence of a preliminary investigation or legal proceedings in progress".

The case affecting Adrien Quatennens also revives the debates on the left on the treatment, within the parties, of violence against women.

La France insoumise, which wants to be at the forefront on the subject, thus found itself this year caught in a vice on the difficult management of the cases of Eric Coquerel and Taha Bouhafs, for their part accused of sexual violence.

On Sunday, the Insoumis leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon gave his support to Adrien Quatennens, exhausting "police malice, media voyeurism, social networks" who "were invited into the conflictual divorce of Adrien and Céline Quatennens", by making including leaking the existence of a handrail.

"Dignity" and "Courage"

"Adrien decides to take everything on himself. I salute his dignity and his courage. I tell him my confidence and my affection," he insisted.

An exit from "another world", was indignant in return the environmentalist senator Mélanie Vogel, or "lamentable", according to Luc Broussy, president of the national council of the PS.

The president of the Renaissance group in the Assembly Aurore Bergé criticized a "variable geometry indignation".

Among the Socialists, a deputy confides at the microphone of Europe 1: "now it is impossible to demonstrate alongside him", in reference to the common demonstration of October 16.

"My affection for him (Adrien Quatennens, editor's note) does not mean that I am indifferent to Céline. (...). But I say it: a slap is unacceptable in any case", added Jean-Luc on Twitter Melenchon.

For her part, the EELV deputy Sandrine Rousseau called on Adrien Quatennens to go further and to put himself "withdrawn from all public speech", including in the Assembly, saying he was waiting for "sanctions" from LFI.                

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"He made a courageous decision", replied the leader of the Insoumis group at the Assembly Mathilde Panot, calling for "a little time to organize ourselves, to discuss between us".

Became a deputy in 2017, easily re-elected in 2022, does Adrien Quatennens see his future mortgaged by this affair at 32?

"No", assures Ms. Panot, because at LFI "we do not think that a man, even if he has committed an act of violence at one time, is a man who is violent for life".

From there to taking over from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of whom he was one of the putative heirs for the head of the movement?

"I think it's compromised in any case," says Sandrine Rousseau.