The lack of internal democracy once again threatens to plunge La France insoumise (LFI) into crisis as Manuel Bompard, close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, prepares to take over the leadership of the movement, whose composition has was unveiled on Saturday December 10 without including several of the party figures. “We are in an evolving process. I understand that it can question and disturb habits ”declared Mr. Bompard during a press conference organized in Paris at the end of the “representative assembly” of one hundred and sixty executives and members.
The one who will only be officially appointed head of the new coordination in the coming days, together with other members of this management appointed for one year, tried to extinguish the anger of dismissed officials. The deputies Alexis Corbière, Clémentine Autain, François Ruffin or Eric Coquerel had not been invited to the event.
“Closing and Locking”
“We are keen on renewal”said MP Gabriel Amard, pointing out that ” more than 50 % “ of the twenty-one members of the management were new. A door is open to discontent: “The work is continuing, between now and the next representative assembly in June; the parliamentary group will have to work on the modalities of its representation” in leadership, he added.
At a time when the other parties of the left-wing alliance New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) are organizing congresses and voting, Manuel Bompard says he continues to prefer the « consensus » rather than elections to avoid “the confrontation between a majority and minorities”.
“While the moment calls for cohesion and openness for LFI, management chooses closure and locking”Clémentine Autain told Agence France-Presse on Saturday:
Spearhead of the Nupes, our movement has a historic responsibility, especially in the race against the far right, but the message sent is likely to weaken the rally.
If, according to Eric Coquerel, the designation of Manuel Bompard is “natural because he knows how to organize very well”the chairman of the finance committee of the National Assembly also affirmed on Friday ” discover ” this appointment. In a general way, “it would be desirable for the whole nuance of the movement to be represented in the direction”pleaded the elected official of Seine-Saint-Denis.
Executive school
Alongside this limited operational management will be created a political council, a place for debate on strategy, made up of elected officials, personalities and “rebellious” executives. This body without a leader and with an advisory function was not planned until very recently, testify several deputies who learned of its existence this week.
These turmoil eclipse the reforms that must “change the nature of the movement”according to the next leader: creation of departmental loops so that local action groups – hitherto self-sufficient – communicate with each other; “voluntary contributions” that activists will be able to assign themselves to local or national expenditure items, purchase of premises in rural and peri-urban areas in an attempt to compete there with the National Rally, creation of a school for executives…
“It’s all going in the right direction” to anchor and diversify the movement, believes Eric Coquerel, even if he does not say he is opposed to future internal elections, because “People want to give their opinion”. “LFI was created [en 2016] for electoral campaigns, now that we have seventy-five deputies and are the first force on the left, we must give it a lasting framework”summarizes the former leader of the Left Party.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he spoke in the morning before the representative assembly to confirm that he was going to co-direct with the deputy Clémence Guetté the La Boétie Institute, a “rebellious” think tank. The former presidential candidate also integrates the coordination of the movement.