The outgoing MP for the 5th constituency of Seine-Saint-Denis, Raquel Garrido (dissident LFI), who came third in the first round of the legislative elections behind the candidate nominated by LFI and the UDI candidate, has withdrawn.
“I am withdrawing. I will do it unilaterally, all by myself. Because I do not have any principles that can be changed,” Raquel Garrido declared on BFMTV late Monday evening.
The elected official said on Monday that she was “ready” to withdraw on condition that the candidates nominated by LFI against the outgoing rebellious deputies Alexis Corbière and Danielle Simonnet, “purged” like her, also withdraw.
“It seems to me that it could have fixed things. It would have been a nice image after this extremely aggressive phase between us. I listened to Manuel Bompard on the 8:00 p.m. news on France 2, and he closed that door,” Raquel Garrido regretted.
“I note that the frenzy of a kind of vengeance, of hatred within La France Insoumise by the leadership continues,” she continued.
The “official” candidates Sabrina Ali Benali (7th constituency of Seine-Saint-Denis) and Céline Verzeletti (15th of Paris) arrived on Sunday behind Alexis Corbière and Danielle Simonnet, not reinvested by LFI because they are critical of the management.
In the first round, Raquel Garrido came third in her constituency with 23.65% of the vote. In the lead, the candidate invested by LFI Aly Diouara received 33.1%, ahead of the mayor of Drancy Aude Lagarde (24.56%).
In this constituency, which includes the towns of Bobigny, Le Bourget and Drancy, the quarrels within LFI and the dissident candidacy of Raquel Garrido have led to two left-wing candidates claiming to be members of the New Popular Front.
In 2022, Ms Garrido put an end to twenty years of parliamentary representation by Jean-Christophe Lagarde (UDI), who was ineligible until 2024 due to a conviction.
