last day for application submissions and the start of an express campaign

“It was a heavy decision to make. We weighed the risks before choosing to represent ourselves. We neither want to see a National Rally prime minister nor see the left lose this constituency. » In the back room of a bar in the La Plaine district of Marseille, the outgoing deputy of the 5^e constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, Hendrik Davi, and his deputy, Pauline Tournier, announced on Sunday, a few hours before the closing of the submission of candidacies, their decision to run again.

Discarded, like four others ” rebels “, by the electoral committee of La France insoumise (LFI), Mr. Davi was the last non-reinvested incumbent not to have announced his candidacy. He will face another LFI activist, Allan Popellard, recently arrived in Marseille and close to Manuel Bompard, in a constituency in the center of Marseille that he conquered in 2022 under the colors of Nupes.

“We looked at the numbers [des dernières élections]he explains. Here, the left made between 40% and 52% in the first round. The argument that running prevents him from winning is not valid. There will be a left-wing list in the second round. »

The day before, the MP had been one of the most acclaimed personalities of the demonstration which brought together more than 10,000 people in the Old Port. Although he claims not to have heard the whistles accompanying Manuel Bompard’s passage, Hendrik Davi emphasizes that the popular support received on this occasion reassured him: “I took the temperature of Marseille and the activists. I received the support of many political forces, trade unionists, activists, voters. »

Locally, his candidacy is also viewed favorably by the elected representatives of Printemps Marseille. In front of the press, Hendrik Davi, once again, called on the candidate designated by LFI to “withdraw”. Allan Popellard, who always announces on “candidate of the New Popular Front in the 5^e Bouches-du-Rhône constituency »did not respond to our request.