Quatennens reinstated in the LFI group, a decision "unacceptable" for many Nupes allies

"There was a vote. The decision is to reinstate Adrien Quatennens," said the deputy of La France insoumise, Alma Dufour.

In a secret ballot, 47 LFI deputies voted for a return on Thursday, 15 voted against, two abstained.

But 53 MPs then considered, in a second vote, that "the conditions" for his reinstatement were "met", only six being against.

The return of the MP from the North was conditioned in particular to the follow-up of an accountability course with feminist associations.

This decision quickly provoked a reaction from the Socialist Party, while several voices within the left-wing alliance Nupes pleaded for its definitive exclusion.

This reinstatement "is both unacceptable, and incompatible with the values defended and carried by the Nupes," the PS said in a statement. "This is a political mistake."

Since the outbreak of the case in September, the subject has crystallized tensions within La France insoumise, especially after controversial tweets from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, to whom Adrien Quatennens is very close.

The tribune had praised the "dignity" and "courage" of his protégé, reiterating his "trust" and "affection". He tried to correct the situation a few hours later, saying that "a slap is unacceptable in any case", then defended him again in February: "Give him peace", "he has been punished enough".

Adrien Quatennens was sentenced in December to a four-month suspended prison sentence by the Lille Criminal Court.

In the process, he was suspended until April 13 from his parliamentary group and returned to the National Assembly in mid-January as a non-attached.

A joint "working group" of four people had been mandated within LFI to assess the conditions of his return.

Adrien Quatennens said in particular to be "engaged in an internship, being finalized, meeting the expected criteria," according to a statement from the group.

"There was a discussion. It is indeed a group that discusses, "simply reacted the deputy Alexis Corbière in front of the press.

The subject remains sensitive within the Insoumis, and several elected officials, like himself, Manon Aubry or Danielle Simonnet had demanded a close "review" before the return of the deputy of the North.

In particular, a television interview with Adrien Quatennens in December, in which he detailed the circumstances of the slap in the face of his wife and seemed, according to Danielle Simonnet, "to reverse the relationship between aggression and aggressor".

Deputy Adrien Quatennens (c), reinstated in the LFI group, on April 11, 2023 at the National Assembly, in Paris © Thomas SAMSON / AFP

According to the statement of LFI, Adrien Quatennens "said regret" these "media expressions", and "recognizes that some of his remarks had the effect, without him having the intention, to relativize the seriousness of the facts".

'Shame'

The decision is criticized by several partners of the Nupes.

Among the socialists, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, internal opponent of the First Secretary Olivier Faure, denounced "the shame" of such a decision, as did the first secretary delegate Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol.

Within the PCF, national secretary Fabien Roussel, already cold with LFI, said he did not want to "meddle in the affairs of others", as he asked LFI at its congress this weekend.

Deputy Adrien Quatennens, reinstated in the LFI group, on April 11, 2023 at the National Assembly, in Paris © Thomas SAMSON / AFP

Among the ecologists, the leader of the group in the National Assembly Cyrielle Chatelain judged that Adrien Quatennens could not "return to the heart of the intergroup" Nupes.

Several elected ecologists had also left the hemicycle in February during the first speech of the deputy since his conviction.

His intervention had also provoked boos and clapping of desks in the ranks of the majority.

The leader of the Renaissance deputies Aurore Bergé also tried, in vain, in March to vote a text to impose a sentence of ineligibility to more perpetrators of violence, especially conjugal.

After the announcement of the reinstatement of Adrien Quatennens, she invited the left to "look in a mirror after that".

Secretary of State Marlène Schiappa tweeted that "like Anne Hidalgo", she condemned this reinstatement, arguing that the cause of women's rights must "bring us together regardless of our political party".

© 2023 AFP