The “National Council for Refoundation” announced on Friday by President Macron, “it’s season 2 of big talk”, said Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Saturday during a meeting in Villeurbanne, at the gates of Lyon, at eight days of the first round of legislative elections.
“After season 1 of the big talk, with the great national debate in 2019 (….) then the citizens’ convention for the climate, nothing was applied, absolutely nothing. Season 2 of the big talk is the National Council for Refoundation”, he said in reference to the president’s decision to carry out consultations before launching reforms affecting purchasing power, ecology, institutions and pensions.
Mr. Mélenchon moved to Villeurbanne to support his son-in-law Gabriel Amard, “a good guy”, according to him, candidate of the NUPES in the 6th district of the Rhône, designated by rebellious France on historically socialist lands.
“Your mission is to elect one of the pillars of the militant system that I have had the pleasure of building over the years,” said the tribune, welcomed like a star by the militants gathered in a park in this city of 150,000 inhabitants who voted for him with 37.88% in the first round of the 2022 presidential election.
Before the family photo, Jean-Luc Mélenchon held the microphone for nearly two hours to explain to the small crowd the stakes of the ballot: “it’s not an election in each constituency, it’s a national election” , he said before detailing his “breakthrough” program once he was appointed prime minister by President Macron.
“Nobody can force him to appoint Mr. Mélenchon, formally, it’s true, but it would not be reasonable to do otherwise: the constitution does not provide for the right to whim”, he recalled, recalling the different cohabitations which have punctuated the last decades.
In the first round of the legislative elections, Gabriel Amard will face 14 candidates, including ex-LR lawyer Emmanuelle Haziza (“Together”) and Michèle Morel, RN department manager.
Husband of his daughter of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Maryline, this 55-year-old man had left the PS in 2008 with the rebellious leader. Successively mayor of Viry-Châtillon, regional councilor in Ile-de-France and general councilor of Essonne, he was elected to the regional elections of 2021 in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (Isère). He failed twice in the legislative elections in Essonne (2012) and in the Jura (2017).
His investiture in the Rhône aroused gnashing of teeth, but no dissenting socialist candidacy. The seat has been vacant since the resignation of the outgoing “walker” Bruno Bonnel, who left to pilot the France 2030 investment plan.
04/06/2022 19:48:03 – Villeurbanne (AFP) – © 2022 AFP
