It was mid-September: Adrien Quatennens admitted to having slapped his wife. Immediate scandal. The LFI deputy has not set foot in the National Assembly since, he was on sick leave. But his return would be imminent, La France insoumise admits to discussing it. And that causes tensions within the Nupes, the union of the lefts.
If nothing is official for the moment, Adrien Quatennens could return to the hemicycle by the end of the month. ” We are in the process of defining the modalities to support his return. “, said Tuesday the president of the LFI group in the Assembly, Mathilde Panot.
These modalities could in particular be an awareness-raising course on sexual and gender-based violence. And Adrien Quatennens, still under investigation after his wife’s complaint, would also wait for the feminist march organized by the #NousToutes movement to take place this weekend.
Green MP Sandrine Rousseau has also drawn a red line on this subject. For her, there is also the question of how his return would be useful in the fight against violence against women and what he would be ready to do to rehabilitate himself.
Opposition and reluctance
But within the Nupes, not everyone shares the idea of an outstretched hand. ” This return is unthinkable », storms an elected feminist from Europe ecology-The Greens. “ Adrien Quatennens should even resign after what he did. Besides, would he have been a candidate for the legislative elections if it had been known that he had committed these acts? »
A point of view also adopted by the boss of the French Communist Party: “ We can’t act like nothing happened “, Hammered Fabien Roussel, for whom the deputy from the North should not return to the Assembly.
More measured, the socialists consider this return “ complicated » and evoke a « case of conscience “.
Among the Insoumis, silence and embarrassment
The simple fact that LFI acknowledges “discussing” the subject is a sign that the return of Adrien Quatennens is not unanimous among the rebellious either. Most deputies avoid the subject and the group has been “bunkerized” for a few days, a habit of movement when things are rocking.
The declarations of the communist Fabien Roussel who, it is true, is never the last to try to undermine the Nupes, aroused strong anger in the ranks of LFI. However, it is embarrassment that dominates, in particular because this return was first relayed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon himself.
However, the positions taken by the rebellious leader when the scandal broke out had created great emotion in the ranks of the party, because he had been more in support of Adrien Quatennens than of his wife, victim in the affair.
►To re-read: Affected by a “handrail”, Adrien Quatennens withdraws from his duties at LFI
More tremors for the Nupes ship
While new battles are looming for Nupes, especially that of pensions, there is fear of a union that would appear weakened. “ Necessarily “, believes an environmental leader, and a fortiori ” when to talk about sexual and gender-based violence “.
For now, it’s mostly every man for himself, and that “ the Rogue Ones deal with their Quatennens problem “, we hear in the other groups on the left.
” This is a matter for the LFI group and the rules it wishes to adopt, particularly in terms of sanctions “, declares cautiously a deputy Europe ecology-The Greens.
“ Adrien Quatennens is above all a member of LFI », Gets rid of an elected PS. This same socialist, on the other hand, is not very worried about possible attacks from the presidential camp or the far right: “ They are neither exemplary nor free from criticism on the subject. »
► Listen again: Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI-NUPES group at the National Assembly (Political Tuesday)