“There was only one possible solution which was this withdrawal”said Monday, September 19 on franceinfo Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party and deputy for the 11th district of Seine-et-Marne the day after Adrien Quatennens’ explanations about his couple.
>> Adrien Quatennens case: how the explanations of the LFI deputy, who admits having slapped his wife, are received within the Nupes
Olivier Faure judges the words of Jean-Luc Mélenchon “clumsy” in this affair – the renewed confidence in Adrien Quatennens without a word for his wife Céline in a 1st tweet – but does not consider that it can shake La France Insoumise.
franceinfo: Did Adrien Quatennens make the right choice by withdrawing from France Insoumise?
Oliver Faure: He actually had few possible choices that are consistent with what we all stand for, namely the bias to hear the voice of women and to no longer let what is called domestic violence pass. From that moment, there was only one possible solution which was this withdrawal. The obligation for him to no longer exercise an executive function in his political party. Women have not been heard for a long time, often not believed when they speak, and therefore today there is a need to completely change the logic.
“We decided to tell the women ‘We believe you’. We reversed the burden of proof and then it is up to the courts to do their job and investigate and possibly apply sanctions when the facts are established.”
Olivier Faureat franceinfo
But the priority is still to listen to the women so that all those who – until now – hesitated to file a complaint and assert their rights can do so with the feeling that there is no one to primarily against them.
How do you respond to Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s words of support for Adrien Quatennens?
I told him directly. I found it awkward. I think that’s the whole difficulty of this subject. When it touches a person who is your friend and who was also certainly one of those to whom he thought of passing the torch. There is inevitably a dilemma between friendship and political responsibility. What I believe is that at such times political responsibility, the cause we are defending must take precedence over friendship, which is very difficult but which we must assume because we do not speak not only for ourselves but also for French society with the hope of governing again and of ensuring that we do so in a spirit which is that of the fight against violence against women.
Adrien Quatennens is an important executive of France Insoumise, the first force within Nupes, does this affair have the strength to rock the balance of the union of the left of which you are a part?
I don’t see very well why we would go from a case which is a marital affair to a case which would now threaten a whole group which was formed during the legislative elections. Obviously it was a storm in rebellious France because it is a very important framework and whose talent everyone recognizes but that does not prevent the fight from continuing and that does not prohibit absolutely anything. I don’t quite see how this could be presented as a threat to the New People’s Ecological and Social Union.