And suddenly lively music rises in the humid June heat. “Against the fascists, against the racists, the Popular Front is my list”sings a powerful masculine voice, while the four Lyon faces of the new united left rush forward, all smiles and fists raised, onto the small stage placed on the edge of the plane trees.
This Wednesday, June 26, Place Jean-Jaurès hosted a joint meeting of left-wing forces in the evening, the first of this nature on a Lyon scale since the launch of the campaign for the legislative elections of June 30 and July 7.
On site: different personalities from the associative and trade union world, intellectuals (the writer and feminist Hélène Devynck, the economist Michaël Zemmour), and especially the four Lyonnais candidates of the New Popular Front: Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi (LFI / 1st district of Rhône), Boris Tavernier (civil society – The Ecologists/2nd constituency), Marie-Charlotte Garin (The Ecologists / 3rd constituency) and Sandrine Runel (PS/ 4th district).
« Our goal this evening is to bring together all the activists and sympathizers but also the citizens, says Sandrine Runel. “We did not want a traditional meeting but a popular festival to bring people together and to maintain this hope which arose with the emergence of the New Popular Front. » « We want to show that we are the only political force capable of putting so many people in one place », continues Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi surrounded by several hundred people. “ We are determined! »
” This is unheard of “
Despite the dissonances swept under the carpet, the internal tensions around the thorny question of the choice of a Prime Minister and the bitterness following the “purge” of rebellious rebels led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the left-wing Lyon activists want believe, too, in the strength of this alliance which yesterday seemed unreal to them.
« Either we all go together, or it’s a shower! », says Louis, a supporter, rejoicing at the latest polls which place the New Popular Front in second position in the first round, behind the National Rally. “ We had to take our responsibilities in the face of the disastrous and bitter extreme project which has been recycling for years the same racism, the same rejection of differences. »
A stone’s throw from him, very close to the association stands, Adrien Drioli (Republican and Socialist Left) draws out his smartphone, full of enthusiasm. “ Look, we have 750 people on the campaign telegram loops, I’ve never seen that!, exclaims the municipal councilor. There is a real dynamic, we feel a momentum, a lot of non-registered people come to tow with us on the markets ».
A movement that the president of the Metropolis of Lyon Bruno Bernard would like to see transform into “ exploit » in the capital of Gaul. “ We can win the four Lyon constituencies », wants to believe the elected official who played a central role in recent negotiations on the left. But the grand slam is far from assured
“We bear a great responsibility”
In Lyon, the left has every chance of winning without too much difficulty in at least two constituencies: the 2nd (Croix-Rousse, north peninsula and part of the 9th) and the 3rd (north of the 7th, west of the 3rd, and part of the 8th). But the battle promises to be tighter in the 1st constituency (5th and part of the 7th and 9th) where Anaïs Belouassa‐Cherifi, close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, will try to bring down the outgoing Renaissance deputy Thomas Rudigoz, threatened for a push from the left on its lands.
Sandrine Runel, for her part, is venturing into more hostile territory. Historically anchored on the right, her constituency (6th arrondissement and part of the 3rd and 8th) had swung into the hands of the Macronists in 2017. And the outgoing MP Anne Brugnera intends to keep her seat and save the honor of the presidential majority in Lyon, a city that was, not so long ago, the cradle of Macronism.
« We are constantly in the field, we go to schools, markets and associations. We have a great return on the fieldhowever, insists the deputy mayor of Lyon. People want a barrier to the far right but they also want to impose a sanction on Emmanuel Macron who is also responsible for the situation in which we are today. The people of Lyon believe in us but are waiting for us around the corner. We bear a great responsibility. »
And left-wing voters will certainly not say the opposite. “Yes, yes we are united, sneers an activist, his eye teasing as the fanfare repairs more vigorously in the center of the square. For the moment. We’ll see what happens after the elections…”
