The French tradition of multiple Trotskyist candidacies, uninterrupted since 2002, will be respected again this year. To the candidacy of Nathalie Arthaud, for Lutte Ouvrière (LO), who obtained early, mid-February, her 500 sponsorships, was added, Monday, March 7, that of Philippe Poutou, of the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), with 596 signatures. They will therefore be among the twelve candidates in the running. One more than in 2017, with, in detail, six applicants on the left, six on the right, eight men, four women. On the Trotskyist side, both are in their third campaign, but for the former Ford worker Blanquefort, this one will have been narrowly pulled off, by last-minute militant efforts but also the help of other left-wing parties.
A time worried about his own candidacy, Jean-Luc Mélenchon finally gave Mr. Poutou his own sponsorship, while some environmentalists, socialists, like Julien Dray, demanded that he be able to compete. Philippe Poutou therefore welcomes, in addition to the effort of the activists, these gestures of solidarity. “We must recognize, and we thank them for it, we have received support and mutual assistance from activists from other left-wing organizations, even elected officials who insisted on ensuring our presence in this election, fearing that we miss the mark »he estimated. “We have the feeling of having once again achieved a feat by passing through the meshes of an anti-democratic net. »
“We have the feeling of having once again achieved a feat by passing through the meshes of an anti-democratic net”, Philippe Poutou
Good news also for LO. ” I am delighted about itreacted, Monday, Nathalie Arthaud, the more revolutionaries, the better. » However, Lutte Ouvrière maintains its distinction. The workers’ party did not count on any outside support. “We have never functioned by relying on one or the other. It is our political principle, “workers rely only on ourselves”, it is true for everything”, explains the candidate. If she got her sponsorships early, she says, it’s because activists are asking mayors who pledge to return their forms as soon as possible, “so that we can return to us in case of difficulties”.
Philippe Poutou, this year, did not have that luxury. Reluctance of elected officials or competition from the dissident candidacy of Anasse Kazib which brought together 160 sponsorships, the anti-capitalist candidate had fallen behind compared to 2017. “The various currents on the left have no real interest in our being absent: the candidacy of Philippe Poutou pulls the whole political spectrum to the left, says what the others do not say, with his profile of rupture which contrasts with the debate of the Ve Republic “asserted the national team in charge of the signatures of the NPA, at the end of February in the weekly of the party, the Anticapitalist. Left on the floor but determined to persevere in the political landscape, the railway worker Anasse Kazib and his Permanent Revolution movement should call for support for the two Trotskyist presidential candidates.
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