With his style, his banter, Fabien Roussel is a bit like communism with a human face, and even jovial. He uses colorful, humorous formulas, he wants to be “coconut and cocorico”he encourages his supporters to organize “apéroussel”… And he has moved away from the anxiety-provoking discourse, often a little catastrophist, which dominates on the left, by advocating the return of “happy days”, his campaign slogan.
On the starting line, he was the unknown of this casting of candidates which largely resembled a 2017 remake. And Fabien Roussel revealed himself, at least in the media. However, he is only 3% of voting intentions in our Ipsos Sopra-Steria poll, but by emancipating himself from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he has given a little oxygen to the PCF.
On nuclear energy, for example, Fabien Roussel is the only left-wing candidate to be resolutely in favor of nuclear energy. On security and secularism, he adopted firm republican positions, as opposed to the drift of a fringe of the left more sensitive to communitarianism. And when he dared to praise “French gastronomy” by wishing that the most modest could have access to “good meat, good wine, and good cheese”he was immediately criticized in a virulent way, in particular by certain ecologists like Sandrine Rousseau who accused him of being xenophobic.
A controversy that may have seemed ridiculous but which is significant of the deep fractures that threaten to explode what remains of the left.
There will be urgency, if only to try to save its seats as deputies in the National Assembly in June. Without union, the left-wing groups, already reduced to the minimum since 2017, would risk disappearing from the Palais-Bourbon. But between now and the legislative elections, another subject could well create a new divide, in particular between the rebellious and the rest of the left: the attitude to adopt in the event of a remake of the Macron-Le Pen duel.
Unlike Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Fabien Roussel has already clearly announced that he would call for “stop the far right” by voting for the Head of State and against Marine Le Pen.