The leader of the Insoumis held a meeting this Sunday, June 23 in the Celleneuve district of Montpellier.
No balls colliding but words clicking. The Leo Malet esplanade, usually bustling with bowlers on Sunday afternoons, hosted a meeting of the New Popular Front, as part of the anticipated legislative elections. The leader of the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon came to support Sylvain Carrière, outgoing MP for the 8th constituency and Nathalie Oziol for the 2nd. The stakes, one week before the first round, are high.
The threat of the RN in the background
Sylvain Carrière recalls how important the voices of Montpellier residents are in a constituency which extends into the canton of Frontignan where the threat of the RN is taken very seriously. Nathalie Oziol, succeeding him, attacks Emmanuel Macron head on before rolling out “the government program” of the New Popular Front “which the president didn’t see coming!” A brand new party name but already chanted by the crowd. Around 1,500 people, some from the neighborhood, many young people, families and a majority of activists. Followers of the Mélenchonist camp, according to the applause meter when the leader of the Insoumis climbs onto the stage. Only a dissonant voice from a woman on her support for Quatennens (Editor’s note: convicted of violence against his ex-wife) is quickly silenced by security.
The tribune can then unfold his speech by immediately attacking the RN and its “facial nationality”. “This is the France that we do not want to be!“Then defend at length “freedom of religion has always been defended by the left”. “Of course we must fight against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia”. Measures in this direction are also on the NFP program, he assures.
The two challenges: the ecological crisis and war
After an aside about himself – “I will never give up the honor of being a target” – Jean-Luc Mélenchon discusses the two future challenges for humanity: the ecological crisis and war. He takes the opportunity to denounce “colonial France” and calls for the release of Kanaks just imprisoned in France. Finally, he devotes a long chapter to the financing of the measures set out in the NFP program, the subject of strong criticism in the presidential camp. Who will pay for the repeal of the pension law and the increase in the minimum wage? “Multinationals that do not pay tax in France.” And hop : “26 billion in the coffers”.
He ends up convincing his audience by defending strict land law at a time “where 1 in 4 French people have a foreign grandparent”. Many in the crowd raise their fingers. Before, in a week, slipping their ballot into the ballot box.
