Voters of the 9e constituency of Paris will have the choice, in the legislative elections (June 12 and 19), between thirteen candidates in the first round, including two Sandrine Rousseau. One is the candidate of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), pillar of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV), the other is a novice in politics, a childcare assistant living in Normandy, invested by Le Mouvement Rurality (LMR), formerly called Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions (CPNT).
A random ? No. This is a parachuting orchestrated by LMR with the avowed aim of countering the ecofeminist Sandrine Rousseau and more broadly, her party, EELV. This results in some confusion. When the list of 6,293 candidates for the legislative elections was published, many of our readers joined us to tell us of a ” mistake ” in this Parisian constituency. On the day of the election, the ballot papers will however be relatively easy to distinguish: each will indicate the name of the candidate, of her substitute, as well as the logos of their political party (Nupes and EELV on one side; LMR and CPNT the other).
Create confusion among voters
The case seems to amuse the pro-rurality party. “Sandrine Rousseau is the companion of a friend very invested in our movement, Sylvain Bertois. She is a member of the movement, but without political commitment so far. When I discovered her name, I offered her to become a candidate, telling myself that it would speak a little. It’s huge”enthusiastically recounts Jérôme Juvigny, president LMR of Cantal, at the origin of this parachute drop and now in charge of the communication of Mme Rousseau.
Is the objective to create confusion among voters when slipping their ballot into the ballot box? « On [avec Eddie Puyjalon et Yannick Villardier, responsables LMR] never thought of it as a source of name confusion that would catch votes, he defends. It is rather a way of marking our ideological difference with punitive ecology or even the opposition between men and women that Ms.me Rousseau. » However, the pro-rural candidate has not yet made or planned a trip to Paris to campaign there. “We will assess the situation according to the requests”explains Mr. Juvigny.
“I see it as a strategy to silence me”
Candidate Nupes, finalist in the Greens’ primary for the presidential nomination, first reacted on Twitter by saying “tired”. Attached to the telephone, she explains that at this stage she has no recourse against this parachuting. “I see it as a strategy to silence me”she reacts. “I assume to be in favor of a radical ecology, in which hunters do not have their entries in all the ministries. Let us have political debates on these subjects. There, we are far from it, these are fascistic methods ”she judges, citing “Putinian practices”. The Russian government has on several occasions invested homonymous candidates to destabilize opponents (here told by The Parisian).
In France, the National Front has already invested candidates with a name similar to that of a competitor. For example in 2004, during the cantonal elections, Christophe Martin was invested against the outgoing UMP Jacques Martin in Nogent-sur-Marne, and Hervé Leroy against the UMP Jacques Leroy in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés-Ouest. “Without this contempt for the intelligence of voters having had great effects”according to researcher specializing in the extreme right Nicolas Lebourg.
At the next legislative elections, Le Mouvement de la ruralité will also have as its representative Mr. Jacques Lemoine, head of the Ile-de-France fishing federations, in the 5e constituency of Seine-et-Marne. He is a candidate there against Franck Riester, candidate minister, and especially Patricia Lemoine, substitute and outgoing deputy, who was one of the parliamentarians who asked the government, in 2020, to put an end to the hunts. “traditional”. “It was his territory”justifies Jérôme Juvigny, of LMR, “and then opportunity knocks”.