Jean-Luc Mélenchon no longer considers the PS as a partner on the left and says he is “betrayed”

POLITICS – His word was expected. Rather rare in the media, although verbose on his own broadcast channels, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was the guest of the Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-Public Senate this Sunday, January 19. Three days after the refusal of the Socialist Party to vote on the motion of censure against the government, the founder of La France insoumise said he “bruised” et “betrayed” by this decision.

According to him, this tactical choice of the PS illustrates the denials of a party to which he belonged for more than thirty years. “They do not vote for censure but are in opposition, no one understands anything”he castigated, revealing that he no longer considered the PS as a ” partner “. In his sights: the desire of the socialists to negotiate until the end with the government, even if it means obtaining only vague promises. Engaged in discussions with François Bayrou, the First Secretary of the PS Olivier Faure has obtained, for the moment, a reopening of the discussion around the much rejected pension reform. Sufficient in the eyes of the group chaired by Boris Vallaud, who did not vote for censure (with the exception of eight deputies).

“We are bruised because we feel betrayed, that’s obviousexpressed Jean-Luc Mélenchon. We are supposed to be allies. They held surprise talks with the government. If they vote for the budget and do not vote for censorship of 49.3, we can say that they have broken the union”. The three-time presidential candidate, who slammed the door of the PS in 2008 after a series of disagreements, sees in the current attitude of the socialists a desire to return to the pre-Holland era, an era during which the PS was hegemonic on the left.

“Deception machine”

“We are not the liars who say that we must go and fight against finance and then serve it the banquet mealhe continued, referring to François Hollande's famous tirade. We will keep our word. Don't think we'll give up like that.”. What does it matter that the former president, who did not run again in 2017 in the face of a record rate of unpopularity, points out “the disrespectful and arrogant attitude of LFI within the New Popular Front” in an interview with the Tribune SundayJean-Luc Mélenchon delivers blow by blow: “This man is a deception machine. For Mr. Hollande, Emmanuel Macron must stay until 2027”.

What is at stake behind these distant settling of scores is first and foremost the question of leadership on the left. Since 2022 and the 22% obtained in the first round of the presidential election by their candidate, the Insoumis have managed to tip the scales to their side, that of rupture. The socialists now want to pull the cover for themselves by making the shared program more ” responsible “.

But it's impossible not to also see the remake of the eternal confrontation between the enemy brothers, François Hollande and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The two men already crossed swords almost thirty years ago, in 1997, during the Brest congress. An eternity in politics.

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