Not without commotion, the deputy Manuel Bompard, close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, will take the direction of La France insoumise, this Saturday in Paris during an assembly called to deepen and diversify the territorial anchoring of the movement.
Asked by AFP, the Bouches-du-Rhône deputy said on Thursday that he “will continue the work” unofficially started on the wand of the movement since the withdrawal in September of Adrien Quatennens, who confessed to domestic violence.
Frames designated by “consensus”
Along with this limited operational management will be created a “political council”, a place of debate on strategy made up of elected officials, personalities and rebel executives.
This body, without a leader and with a consultative function, was not planned until very recently, testify several deputies who learned of its existence this week. And if the appointment of Manuel Bompard at the head of the movement is “natural because he knows how to organize himself very well”, says Eric Coquerel, president of the Finance Commission of the National Assembly, “to find out”.
Unlike the congresses initiated by the other Nupes formations, which elect their leaders, LFI appoints its executives by “consensus”, explains Manuel Bompard, with the aim of “protecting itself from the confrontation between majorities and minorities”. In the same way, he confesses, being in operational management requires great availability, which some personalities cannot satisfy.
Starting with François Ruffin. The deputy of the Somme, until then little invested in the authorities, had expressed the desire to integrate the management to give more importance to the countryside and peri-urban areas. But he ended up agreeing to be on the “political council”, as confirmed by his environment.
“Personally, I advocated for François Ruffin to be in the leadership because he is an important figure in the movement,” deputy Clémentine Autain slips.
In general, “it would be desirable for all the nuance of the movement to be represented in the leadership”, Eric Coquerel abounds, advocating the presence of the bulk of the 17 deputies of the previous legislature.
A movement that “will change nature”
Therefore, a meeting scheduled for Friday afternoon to define the last details before the Assembly on Saturday should also address this issue of representativeness. “Who decides, that is the question”, which haunts many activists, privately blows to an elected official.
However, Manuel Bompard assures that the movement “will change its character” thanks to various reforms.
Departmental loops will allow previously self-sufficient local action groups to communicate with each other. Activists will also be able to contribute through “voluntary contributions” who will decide on the allocation: national campaigns, local action groups…
However, a small part will be automatically entered into a leveling fund, which will provide resources to less favored departments. LFI will also buy venues in rural and peri-urban areas in an attempt to compete with the National Rally there.
A school for managers will also be created, so that the movement has a new breeding ground from which to draw its leaders.
“This is all going in the right direction” to anchor and diversify the movement, believes Eric Coquerel, although he does not say he is against a future implementation of elections because “people want to have their say.”
“The LFI was created (in 2016) for electoral campaigns. Now that we have 75 deputies and we are the first force on the left, we must give it a lasting framework,” summarizes the deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis.
Mélenchon on “key”
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, will speak before the 160 delegates – one third executives, two thirds activists drawn by lot – from the Representative Assembly, to which journalists will not have physical access.
Another deputy, you must mention the Institut La Boétie, a rebel think tank that will take over the leadership in the coming weeks. He wants to remain the “cornerstone” but be less directly an “actor,” reports a three-time presidential candidate inside the rostrum.
Source: BFM TV
