He had already campaigned in 2016 for his party to support candidate Mélenchon. Rebelote at the end of 2020: Gilles Poux, PCF mayor of La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis), already lines up behind the leader of rebellious France (LFI), who has just declared himself for the presidential election of 2022. He is one of the first elected members of the Communist Party to announce it publicly.
“Jean-Luc Mélenchon enjoys real recognition on the left, despite his mistakes and individual postures. The Avenir en commun program is a radical base, which makes it possible to respond to the urgency of the situation. If we all go to the left, if we agree to federate, we can avoid the duel written in advance between Macron and Marine Le Pen in the second round, ”says the elected official.
A “creative and unifying” candidate
And in his eyes, there is urgency. Gilles Poux, who has just questioned the Head of State with other mayors on the impact of the crisis in working-class neighborhoods, wants a “break with the policies that have been undergone for too long”. “The longer we wait,” he predicts, the more ego will gain the upper hand. “
It is objected that, precisely, others see in the early candidacy of Jean-Luc Mélenchon a very individual approach … “He also demonstrated that he was creative and unifying”, retorts Gilles Poux. In 2017, the Insoumis candidate, supported by the PCF, had collected more than seven million votes without however reaching the second round.
The PCF is however aiming for a candidacy in 2022
What about other possible candidates as it could emerge in the coming months, to the PS, to Europe Ecologie-les Verts… Or to the PCF? Reacting to the candidacy of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, announced last Sunday, the secretary general of the PCF Fabien Roussel recently indicated that the Communists would make their choice “in due course”, and that the priority was “to fight the pandemic”.
In an interview with the newspaper “L’Humanité” on Friday, he went further by explaining that a Communist presidential candidacy in 2022 would “not be a surprise”.
“Gilles Poux rushes a little”
“It’s a sleight of hand, a fool’s bargain, tackle Gilles Poux. We know that Fabien Roussel was elected at the head of the party by defending the need for a communist candidacy. Do we decide to bring together intelligences and energies, without a boutique spirit, with the idea of being useful to the people of France and the working-class suburbs? I only dream of one thing, and that is for the Communist Party to engage in this fight. “
“Gilles Poux rushes a little, judge Pierre Lacaze, national head of elections to the PCF. For us, the time is not for the presidential election, but for responding to the needs of the population. Time will pass, today’s supporters may not be any more tomorrow… Jean-Luc Mélenchon is not unanimous, including within the Communist Party. “
The politician refers to the “collective debate” of the activists, in principle during the national congress of political formation. The date of which will depend on whether or not the departmental and regional elections are maintained… “Let’s say that the debate will take place in the first half of 2021”, summarizes Pierre Lacaze.
Marie-George Buffet also rallies
Gilles Poux knows that his position “risks provoking some discussions”. But she already enjoys the support of another elected member of the 93. The former patron of the PCF Marie-George Buffet, member of the constituency of La Courneuve, “completely shares the approach of Gilles Poux”.
“The first polls show that Jean-Luc is the most able to unite on the left. We must seize his proposal, and raise a hope, “says the parliamentarian, who shuddered” when she heard François Hollande call for the creation of a new left force, which would necessarily be social-liberal. She too, in 2016, had weighed in favor of communist support for the Insoumise candidacy.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
