With political attention focused primarily on new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and his government, the Communist Party quietly launched its campaign for the European elections this week. With a head of the list also very young: Léon Deffontaines, 27 years old. A virtual unknown who will be dogged by the boss of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, who has decided to also be on the list. These Europeans are a big issue for the ex-Nupes parties but vagueness persists.
If Léon Deffontaines is going to lead the communists and Marie Toussaint the ecologists, the two heavyweights of the former union of the left, are still hesitant. The Socialist Party (PS) seems well on its way to renew Raphaël Glucksmannwho had already led the battle in 2019. Except that voices are raised against this scenario: the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo believes that “ the choice of the head of the list must not be closed » and pleads for an alliance behind the environmentalists. And if the PS leadership firmly rejects this idea, it was still hesitant a few weeks ago to reappoint a leader who does not have his party card.
But the biggest question lies with the Insoumis. Here too, the head of the 2019 list, Manon Aubry, seems to be holding the rope. In any case, she is convinced of it. Except that the leadership of the movement does not seem so sure: the hope of a union list continues to be hammered and senior executives of LFI promise surprises, such as the possible involvement of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Test after the Nupes explosion
This electoral meeting is a test for the parties of the ex-Nupes. Or rather a test between the lefts because as a socialist framework recognizes, “ there is very little chance that we will get involved in the battle for the first places “. “ It will allow us to count ourselves », Adds the environmentalist side.
Hence the need to avoid completely missing out on the vote: this explains the presence of Fabien Roussel but also the president of the communist group in the Assembly, André Chassaigne, on the communist list. “ The objective is to pass the 5% milestone », explains Léon Deffontaines. The Insoumis for their part would like to titillate the first place of the ex-Nupes to establish their domination while socialists and ecologists dream of becoming the new forces of balance on the left.
Except that no one really explains how they plan to achieve this: “ Glucksmann has no separate program on international issues “, we joke on the communist side, in the socialist ranks, we make fun of the ” kindness strategy » by Marie Toussaint. And an environmentalist executive believes that “ if Mélenchon presents himself, it is really an admission of weakness of LFI “.