New episode of fractures within the French left this Wednesday, May 1 in Saint-Etienne. Raphaël Glucksmann, head of the PS-Place publique list, was prevented from joining the May 1 procession in Saint-Etienne following receiving insults and throwing paint. He quickly implicated around fifty activists from “France Insoumise” who shouted at him “get out of it!” », “Palestine will live!” », “PS bastard! “. The planned post-parade exchange with activists was also canceled.
On not provide full support to the Palestinians. For him, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is at the origin of the eruption of anger once morest him and he describes him as an “engineer of chaos”.
“What is certain is that there were flags of political parties. There were flags of Permanent Revolution (a Trotskyist movement) and France Insoumise,” he said. “It is time to put the taboo of violence once morest people back on the agenda. Time to stop playing with fire like Jean-Luc Mélenchon and others do every day,” he adds.
For his part, the leader of France Insoumise, who for many months has endorsed the end of the Nupes following the failure of the union of the left for the European elections, made his disapproval known from a speech in place of the Republic in Paris of the physical violence of which Raphaël Glucksmann was the target. On the other hand, for him, this exfiltration of the PS candidate “provides a media diversion once morest May 1 and a victim role for Glucksmann who takes the opportunity to accuse us. »
Although the entire left-wing political class condemns these violent acts, lines are divided over their origins. At the PS, Bernard Cazeneuve or Jérôme Guedj, opposed to Jean-Luc Mélenchon since the creation of Nupes for the first or more recently for the second, denounce the verbal violence of the former candidate for the presidential election. “The violence of words always prepares for violence,” lamented the PS deputy for Essonne, while the former Prime Minister targeted Jean-Luc Mélenchon, without naming him. “Who does not see where weeks, months, years of excesses, excess, invectives, violence are leading our democracy”, he tweeted.
As for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s supporters, the accusation is inadmissible. Bastien Lachaud, deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, points to “revolting accusations” and maintains that “democratic debate is enough” to “fight” Raphaël Glucksmann’s political line.
Aware of the divisions on the left, Clémentine Autain (LFI), who has distanced herself from Jean-Luc Mélenchon in recent months, tried to call for a rally. Few other voices within his movement are on the same line. According to her, “the extreme right is waiting for only one thing: to take advantage of the divisions within the left to take power”.
According to the latest Harris Interactive survey for Challenges, M6 and RTL, Jordan Bardella is leading the polls for the next European elections with 31% of voting intentions. On the left, the first candidate is Raphaël Glucksmann with 13%, ahead of Manon Aubry (LFI) and the 9% of voters who would be ready to vote for her. Between now and 2027, the war of the left is set to last.
