Some constituencies say a lot about the political state of the country, the day after these early legislative elections: the first constituency of Avignon, for example.
There, Catherine Jaouen (RN), outgoing deputy, comes in first with 34.62% of the votes. Behind, Raphaël Arnault (NFP) is content with 24.76%. This man is not exactly the first comer: he is “listed S and convicted of group violence” (he decided to appeal this conviction). A pedigree embarrassing enough to give rise to a dissident left-wing candidacy, that of Philippe Pascal.
But with a result peaking at 18.27%, the latter is condemned to withdraw while now calling for a vote for yesterday’s enemy brother: “I am disappointed because if I had qualified, I would have been best placed to unite and win, because I am a moderate. […] But I call for a vote for Mr. Arnault. My only goal is to beat the RN.”
When Lionel Jospin spoke of “anti-fascist theatre…
What self-denial, and how touching it all is. Our man therefore sits on his progressive, humanist and “moderate” program, just to block the RN, as if it were a political project in itself. We are certainly in Avignon, as its festival approaches. But that cannot excuse everything, as evidenced by the words of Lionel Jospin pronounced in 2007: “During the years of Mitterrandism, all anti-fascism was just theater, there was never a fascist threat. We were faced with a party, the National Front, which was a far-right party, a populist party in its own way, but we were never faced with a fascist threat…”
Since then, the former unsuccessful candidate in the 2002 presidential election seems to have changed his discourse by calling for the same republican front that even Serge and Arno Klarsfeld no longer believe in, not hesitating to say that between the RN and LFI, they would choose the former in the event of a second round. Interviewed by us, Catherine Jaouen, a lawyer by profession and from a Gaullist family, confided in us that she “found, in 2013, this breath in Marine Le Pen, this woman who has gone through so many trials, with absolute courage. […] I differentiate between the old and the new left.she says. Cécile Helle, the mayor of Avignon, Philippe Pascal, my opponent in the parliamentary election, are courteous people with whom it is always possible to discuss in a calm manner, unlike Raphaël Arnault.
The indignity of the government left…
But here it is, the same Cécile Helle, mayor (PS) of Avignon, has just called for a vote for… Raphaël Arnault! According to her, “The risk of an absolute majority in the National Assembly for the RN is very real today and I am, like all democrats, worried about the future of our country”. And to demand from his voters “a clear vote” in favor of the famous Raphaël Arnault.
Hence these confessions from Catherine Jaouen: “The old-style left of Cécile Helle has finally dropped its mask by allying itself with LFI, and not with just any of its representatives. Raphaël Arnault has already run in the 2022 legislative elections in Lyon under the NPA label, probably judging that NUPES was not yet left-wing enough for his taste!”
More quid of the position of Malika di Fraja, the Macronist candidate who came in fourth place, with 16.13%? The answer has just been given: no voting instructions for the second round… “This constituency finds itself caught between the extremes and deserved much more than that. […] The votes of my constituents do not belong to me and I believe they are capable enough to decide for themselves what they want to do.”
This is a position that is anything but unworthy, even if voters struggle to follow this interminable soap opera, no longer knowing who they should or should not vote for, among those who are one day part of “the republican arc” and the other one doesn’t. Catherine Jaouen: “The truth is that today, everyone is trying to save their skin, even if it means saying the opposite of what they claimed yesterday.”
A highly anticipated televised debate…
At the same time, Thierry d’Aigremont, secretary of the RN in Vaucluse, calls on left-wing voters, “centrists or moderates, vote RN to avoid chaos in the streets”. And to continue: “I know quite a few people from the moderate left or the centrist left who are afraid of seeing Islamo-leftists or Hamas supporters come to power. Raphaël Arnault scares the people of Avignon. The people of Avignon will wake up and choose Catherine Jaouen, because they are reasonable people who do not want to see chaos in the streets of Avignon all the time.”
The people of Avignon are now waiting for the debate between Raphaël Arnault and Catherine Jaouen, scheduled for France 3this Tuesday, at 7:45 a.m., on France Blue Vaucluse. For the Le Pen candidate, “This will be an opportunity for Raphaël Arnault to drop his mask…” This lawyer can be trusted to help him with this.
