An anti-fascist activist with the S-list, Raphaël Arnault was elected MP in Vaucluse, against the RN.
The surprise of the first round was confirmed. Raphaël Arnault, candidate of the New Popular Front in Vaucluse, was elected deputy at the end of the second round of the legislative elections. This Sunday, July 7, 2024, the candidate announced his victory on social networks against the National Rally. According to the final results communicated by the Ministry of the Interior, he received 54.98% of the votes, against 45.02% for the outgoing deputy Catherine Jaouen. Raphaël Arnault, who had managed to reach the second round despite a dissident left-wing candidacy, will therefore enter the National Assembly despite the many criticisms.
Raphaël Arnault’s victory was unexpected after the controversies caused by the latter between the parachuting of the candidate and his portrait. The candidate invested by LFI who became known as a far-left activist deemed “violent” is notably listed S. If Raphaël Arnault initially disturbed the left, particularly in the local left, he ended up gaining the support of the voters.
S-file, convictions and parachuting… The controversies surrounding Raphaël Arnault
The one who was unknown to the general public and became one of the most followed candidates in the legislative elections. His candidacy initially irritated in the 1st constituency of Vaucluse because of the parachuting of the young activist from Lyon. Raphaël Arnault was also a candidate in the previous legislative elections in the 2nd constituency of the Rhône under the NPA label. But beyond his placement in Vaucluse, it was his profile that caused debate.
Raphaël Arnault is an activist and spokesperson for the Young Antifascist Guard, a far-left group in Lyon accused of carrying out “violent actions”. And he is listed on the “S file”, that is, in a police register of individuals deemed potentially dangerous to national security. Several members of the group are suspected of assaults, notably by the “identity feminist” collective Némésis, and some were indicted a few days before the second round of the legislative elections, because they were suspected of being behind an anti-Semitic attack in Paris. Raphaël Arnault himself is the subject of charges and was sentenced to four months in prison by the Lyon criminal court for group violence according to Europe 1. But the activist appealed the court decision.
In addition, his membership in the anti-fascist movement, certain statements by Raphaël Arnault on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Hamas attack of October 7 in which he expressed his “solidarity” with “the Palestinian resistance” and its “unprecedented offensive against the colonial state of Israel” have earned him a summons from the police for apology for terrorism.
Raphaël Arnault defends himself, LFI supports him
Raphaël Arnault defended himself to AFP against the accusations made against him, particularly those accusing him of violence: “I was accused of representing a violent left, it’s just the hospital making fun of charity, we’ve been denouncing extreme violence on the part of far-right activists for years, we’ve been fighting it.” And he has the support of the coordinator of La France insoumise Manuel Bompard: “Unless I’m mistaken, the S form is not a conviction, the S form is not a decision, the S form is not a sanction,” reacted the rebel who considered it “scandalous” that “people [soient] listed as S for their environmental and union commitments.