As in 2022, Gabriel Blasco (New Popular Front) is running for the union of the left in the 7th constituency of Hérault.
Is it so natural to campaign in this 7th constituency, two years after failing to beat Aurélien Lopez-Liguori (RN), now an outgoing MP?
My desire has always been to go there as part of a left-wing union list. It’s a new election, with a boom in participation announced compared to 2022. This reshuffles the cards, people are returning to the polls. It is the ballot that makes you a French citizen. However, I don’t know if the people who voted RN twice, we’re going to make them change their minds. It is not Gabriel Blasco who will achieve victory. I am the candidate for a broader movement. I am part of the Republican barrage.
On the left, this national campaign is particularly polluted by accusations of anti-Semitism. How do you perceive these criticisms?
It clashes with my values. If I have convictions, it is against racism and for the fight against anti-Semitism. Being taxed by the far right is the height of it. To date, no left-wing elected official has been convicted of denying crimes against humanity. But I don’t want to fall into caricature. The question of anti-Semitism in the New Popular Front is not a subject. Anyone who has comments that do not condemn anti-Semitism is evacuated.
The New Popular Front presented its program. The question now is how it will be financed…
We are carrying out a social project to increase wages and purchasing power. The RN lowers VAT, and therefore state resources. The left is proposing to spend more, but also to have additional revenue: tax increases, reestablishment of the ISF… We are putting a social project on the table. The left has often been accused of bankruptcy, but this has always resulted in social progress.
How do you plan to carry out this express campaign, particularly where the RN achieves its best scores?
We will not leave a single territory free to the RN. Lopez-Liguori felt like she worked the field for two years. But as soon as it was necessary to fight against agribusiness or for a guaranteed agricultural income, he was absent. For my part, I am president of the Barrou port council through my departmental mandate. I hear the concerns of shellfish farmers and fishermen. They are tired of being the last wheel when we talk about adjustments linked to global warming.
Locally, what do you propose, particularly with regard to the agricultural world?
We will first have to respect the water quality plan and protect fishing environments. The Etang de Thau is today at the heart of a conflict between fishermen, shellfish farmers, developers and tourists. If water quality drops, shellfish farming disappears. We are heading towards a future with less water, where its quality will have to be preserved. The State must support farmers with respect. This is also the case in viticulture. We must support these professions, within the framework of programs that we defend, such as zero pesticides.
In the perspective of a triangular in the 2nd round, and in the spirit of a “republican front”, will you be able to discuss with the presidential majority camp represented by Jocelyne Gizardin?
I don’t write political fiction. When the RN came out on top on June 9, the left united within 48 hours. She will know how to take responsibility. We are really in a social debate. Having an RN government is serious today. You know, I was 15 years old in 2002. I protested like crazy when I saw Jean-Marie Le Pen at 2nd presidential round. Today, I have revenge to take on that. We don’t play with the RN.
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