Head of the French Communist Party’s list in the European elections (PCF), Léon Deffontaines wants to stand out from other left-wing lists with a program made by and for workers.
Candidate of the French Communist Party in the European elections, Léon Deffontaines wants to stand out from the other left-wing list leaders with his program. A desire all the stronger since Fabien Roussel’s foal is the candidate who receives the fewest voting intentions in the poll results compared to the seven other lists of the main parties, including those of the three other left-wing parties: the Parti socialise, Eruope-Ecologie-Les Verts and La France insoumise. If the poll results are to be believed, the candidate may not pass the 5% threshold necessary to have elected representatives in the European Parliament.
However, Léon Deffontaines wants to defy the figures. And for this he draws on the differences which separate him from the rest of the left, even if several measures of his program agree with those of the three other parties. It is especially with Manon Aubry’s LFI list that he wants to make a clear distinction.
The key measures of Léon Deffontaines’ program
At the European level, the PCF intends to denounce “austerity treaties” and “liberal Europe” while also opposing the enlargement of the European Union in a program divided into five parts. The first plans to act against the way in which European citizens are being suffocated by austerity policies and competitiveness policies. The second titled “taking power over capital” refers to Europe’s industrial, energy, agricultural and digital sovereignty. The PCF also aims to improve public services and keep liberalization policies in check. And finally, the head of the communist list wants to “conquer social progress and equality” and guarantee peace and collective security with regard to conflicts internal and external to Europe, particularly on subjects such as NATO and political migration in Europe.
Léon Deffontaine’s watchword is “purchasing power, peace, environment”. And to keep his promises, he wants to act on energy, by keeping Europe in nuclear power to get out of energy dependence while lowering bills for citizens, but also on the fight against tax evasion, for end of competition between workers and for the overhaul of agricultural policy. The PCF wants, among other things, to place workers, who according to it are up against austerity policies led by Emmanuel Macron and Bruno Le Maire, at the center of the chessboard.
In the European election campaign, Léon Deffontaines puts forward three strong proposals from his program: “Index wages to inflation; Exit the European energy market to lower bills; Impose equal pay between women and men “. The party also campaigns for peace and wants Europe to guarantee Ukraine’s security without integrating it into the twenty-seven European Union.
Banking on their age and their similar background, Léon Deffontaines wishes to stand as a rival to the National Rally candidate, Jordan Bardella. The two leaders claim to be addressing “peripheral France” and “territorial France”, each in their own way. Despite the considerable difference in notoriety, Léon Deffontaines wishes to “create a duel” with the head of the RN list. Léon Deffontaines also made a name for himself by responding in an open letter to an RN voter: a certain Colombe who, in a report broadcast by TF1 on May 1, testified in tears to her social distress. The communist candidate said he was “touched” by this testimony: “What I hope, dear Colombe, is to convince you that the National Rally to which you have turned is not the remedy for the terrible ills which affect you “, he wrote.
Léon Deffontaines’ profession of faith
Candidates for the European elections summarize the main measures of their program in professions of faith which are sent to voters throughout France with the European elections. Léon Deffontaines presents himself as the candidate of the “left united for work” on his own and assures that he can work for a “Europe of cooperation between sovereign peoples […] which is committed to a rational, popular and ambitious ecology” with candidates “defenders of the secular and social Republic”.
Léon Deffontaines’ profession of faith is available in full on the Ministry of the Interior website. The program is informed on the French Communist Party website.