At LFI, the maintenance of Adrien Quatennens ulcerates these youth branches

JEFF PACHOUD / AFP

Photo of the summer university of rebellious France in Châteauneuf-sur-Isère on August 28 (Illustration)

POLITICS – The “Mélenchon generation”, the one that enabled to the candidate for the Élysée to be the third man in the final ballot twice, grumbles. Even growls. La France Insoumise, already internally sealed by a new organization chart deemed unsatisfactory, is confronted at the same time with a “militant strike” of his young people. At issue: the management of the Quatennens case.

On December 13, the Young Insoumis of Poitiers are “disgusted”. They do not have words harsh enough to denounce the decision of the LFI deputies to reinstate in april their colleague from the North, sentenced the same morning to a suspended prison sentence for domestic violence. “Our fight is becoming incoherent and no longer makes us proud to carry high our banner of justice, freedom, equality and harmony”write the young people of Poitiers in a series of tweets.

“Inconsistency”, ” treason “ … The words come up in almost all the press releases published in less than a week by the various LFI youth branches in the four corners of the country. Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Metz, Valencienne, Nanterre, Haute-Vienne, Paris-Nord-Est, Lyon, Marseille this Thursday, December 22…

Until the “Rebellious Discord”, strike force of rebellious France on social networks, there are at least twenty annexes to demand the outright exclusion of Adrien Quatennens. In the meantime, actions in the name of LFI are suspended and, faithful to their mischievous spirit, cyber-activists have fun making maps of France, weather-style, of militant strikes affecting the movement.

“Generational Break”

“If Quatennens had been guilty of tax evasion, they would have fired him directly. This proves that there is a generational gap, that contrary to what they say, they have not understood the challenges of the feminist fight today”, summarizes Robbin, one of the members of the Young Insoumis of Poitiers, at the microphone of France Inter.

Some elected officials of La France Insoumise share this feeling. “Yes, there is a small gap on the Quatennens case. And it is possible that it will increase”, confided to us before the court decision an LFI parliamentarian. Another does not hesitate to speak of “generational break”.

This is the height of a movement that knows how to capture the youth. In the first round of the presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon won far ahead of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen as the candidate for 18-24 year olds (31%) and 24-35 year olds (34%). according to an Ipsos-Sopra survey.

Mélenchon’s “do better” backfires

But it goes without saying that Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s reaction to the Quatennens affair has something to cool his most fervent defenders. With a sad irony, many of them have taken up in their press releases the words of the unfortunate candidate who, in recording his defeat on April 10, had called on his troops to ” do better “.

“We want to tell members of this new leadership that if we want to ‘do better’, then we risk having to do without them”warn the young people of the Gier Valley in the Loire.

To believe Clementine Autainwhich referred to in the JDD December 16 “group departures from LFI”, some have already chosen to pack up. The deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, supported among others by the MEP Manon Aubry, pleads for the parliamentary sanction of Adrien Quatennens to be re-examined, in the light of his public speeches to ensure his defense.

But the ruling line does not hear it that way. ” We are all uncomfortable, but there is an agreement within the group. And then as Jean-Luc Mélenchon expressed it at a meeting in Saint-Étienne last Friday, the republican ideal is also that a man sentenced to the right to rehabilitation “, says Manuel Bompard, interviewed by France Inter. What about rebellious rebellion? ” Action groups must be left to breathe,” evacuates the one who is now the number 1 of LFI, under the title of space coordinator.

In a movement that claims “gaseous”, it is therefore out of the question to impose a line of conduct. Except that young activists intend to do it. This Thursday, the Young Insoumis of Marseille announced a “internal consultation procedure” on the reinstatement of Adrien Quatennens before the results are“communications” to the rebellious parliamentary group.

And it turns out that eighteen deputies sit in the new leadership announced at the end of the year. Will they be able to hear the anger of the members and calm the sling? “Today, I have the impression that internal insubordination is worth banishing”, lamented Clémentine Autain about the reorganization. But with the Quatennens affair, it is the movement that takes the risk of being rejected by its youngest supporters.

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