In this last straight line of the presidential election, defections and rallies to the various candidates are accelerating. On Wednesday March 9, the communist candidate, Fabien Roussel, for his part received the support of several left-wing parties: that of the Republican and Socialist Left (GRS), the Left Radicals, the Republican and Citizen Movement (MRC) and the Socialist New Left.
“From the beginning, I said that we were intended to bring together the left very broadly, to embody a popular left, that of work, good wages, public services and purchasing power. (…) a republican left that defends the sovereignty of France and fights fiercely against the liberal European treaties”and “a secular left” which defends the law of 1905, explained Mr. Roussel, during a joint press conference held with these parties.
Candidate of “secularism, reindustrialization, living well together”
In the morning, the GRS, a political formation founded by former socialists and ex-supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon Emmanuel Maurel and Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, had already announced their support by way of a press release, specifying that they had made this decision on Monday “ by a majority of its members. In October, the party announced that it would support Arnaud Montebourg in the race for the Elysée, before he gave up running three months later.
“We had a lot of activists and elected officials who did not want to remain at gunpoint”explained Mr. Maurel, considering that the PCF candidate, “is closest to [leurs] convictions » and embodies “a left that knows where it is going and for whom it is fighting”and “wants to win back the popular strata”. In particular, he welcomed the fact that the communist candidate is giving “the priority of purchasing power and wages, the reindustrialization of the country, popular ecology, energy and food sovereignty, and secularism”.
“We have decided to provide firm, reasoned, lucid and enthusiastic support to Fabien Roussel”declared in turn Jean-Luc Laurent, president of the Republican and Citizen Movement (MRC), founded by Jean-Pierre Chevènement in 2003, who, for his part, decided to support Emmanuel Macron. “Without being in agreement with all of Fabien Roussel’s proposals, this is where we find ourselves best”explained Mr. Laurent.
It’s Tuesday night “The Left Radicals have decided, almost unanimously, to support Fabien Roussel”added Paul Dhaille, member of the national training office. “We have chosen our camp, the camp of the left, for a democratic refoundation, the rehabilitation of intermediary bodies, local authorities, unions, associations”and “the defense of public services” and of ” laicity “he explained.
As for New Left Socialist, which had also initially supported Arnaud Montebourg, it was “looking for a program and a candidate who embody the values we defend, secularism, reindustrialization, living well together”said his spokesperson, Damien Thomas.