Amiens (Picardie), report
“ You will be my voices and my faces for the days to come. You will be the image of the left that we want to embody: joyful and generous. » Faced with a crowd of around 400 people gathered in the northern districts of Amiens, François Ruffin provided his first campaign advice. On June 12, he set out to seek re-election in the first constituency of the Somme. And despite a National Rally at the gates of Matignon, the former MP does not intend to do it in gloom. “ Even if the situation is serious, I enjoy being in the countryside », he admitted. Facing the towers HLM of this popular district, Picard wishes above all to convey a message that reassures. He makes it felt by embellishing his speech with warm anecdotes.
“ People need protection and stability. For what ? Because opposite, we have Macron who is creating disorder by putting everything in the hands of the market. And that we have the RNthe national divide, which proposes to sort people according to their origins and their skin color »he summarizes.
“ A joyful and generous left »
The MP is aware of the scale of the task to be carried out in his constituency made up of both working-class neighborhoods in Amiens and small villages. Even though he was comfortably re-elected in 2022 (61 % of votes cast in the second round) against a candidate RN, nothing has happened since the dissolution of the National Assembly on June 9. Projected on the scale of its constituency, the results of the European election give the far right at 44 % (RN and Reconquest), when the Popular Front (socialists, communists, ecologists and rebels) is only 21 %. “ Of course he could lose »comments Franck, who came from the rural commune of Bourdon to support François Ruffin.
“ Ruffin’s strength is to beat the campaign in every election. He goes to see people and talks with them. It’s not the same as for the European elections, this time the voters are voting for someone they know »supports Sophie, teacher in Flixecourt and Picardie Debout supporter.
Activists, trade unionists, associations… All united against the RN
And since it is necessary “ beat the countryside », Ruffin’s supporters are wasting no time. As soon as the candidate’s speech is finished, a colorful procession forms, batucada at the head, to go and tow to the bottom of the buildings. There are activists dressed in black, displaying a banner “ Anti-fascist Amiens »as well as flags of Solidaires, of the CGT and the party of the candidate for his re-election: Picardy standing.
The nuances of the apparatus have clearly been put aside to block the far right. In Amiens, the Popular Front project seems successful. The left are united and they are taking with them the trade union and association movements, with their grassroots activists and their presence in the streets. In the neighborhood, the welcome is good, residents take leaflets and ask questions. “ We’re really in trouble if the other person wins and we’re strangers ? »asks a young person. “ Yes »replies Arnaud, handing him a stack of brochures.
Franck, Sophie and Thierry came from the Picardy countryside to support François Ruffin.
© Guillaume Bernard / Reporterre
Meanwhile, François Ruffin is live on BFM TV. Became, since June 9, “ captain » of the Popular Front, his status no longer leaves him time to lead the procession and address residents through the window with his megaphone, as he had become accustomed to doing during his previous campaigns.
Despite everything, he tried for a time to put aside national political news to address his Picardy voters. To journalists who already ask him if he sees himself as Prime Minister, he responds with a football metaphor: “ What matters is the team, a match is won with eleven players. » And the former MP immediately proposed a flagship measure for the Popular Front, to be implemented this summer: “ Truly free school, free on supplies, extracurriculars, canteen and outings. » A proposal that speaks both to “ the France of towers and the France of towns »as he likes to say.
