How the gap between François Ruffin and his former comrades from La France Insoumise has widened further

The Picardy MP, who broke with LFI during the legislative campaign, relaunched the offensive against his former political party this week, attracting a barrage of criticism.

Already deteriorating over the last two years, relations between François Ruffin and the rebellious elected officials close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon have become explosive in recent days. The deputy from the Somme accused the second of having “abandoned part of France” and pushed into a communitarian campaign, while the rebellious executives defended their leader. As the Fête de l’Huma ends on Sunday, September 15, franceinfo returns to this quarrel that divides the left.

1 François Ruffin criticizes the functioning of the party and its strategy

François Ruffin is no longer holding back his attacks on the functioning of his former political party, with which he broke during the legislative campaign. Interviewed on Wednesday on the BFMTV set, he describes a party “where there is fear, (…) where there is no room for debate, discussion, contradiction, exchange and overcoming contradictions”. In his book My whole France, not half of itpublished the same day, François Ruffin openly criticizes the LFI line, its internal functioning, but also the relationship with the people of its founder, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whom he accuses in particular of “[remettre] “up to date” a form of “left-wing snobbery”.

According to François Ruffin, the former presidential candidate has “everything focused on youth and working-class neighborhoods” And “abandoned the rest”he explained to the New Obs, about the workers, “workers” and rural residents. The deputy of the Somme describes a “facial campaign” which he claims to have carried out during the 2022 legislative elections and points out the“scarecrow” what, according to him, Jean-Luc Mélenchon represents in the eyes of certain voters. “When I came across a black person or an Arab, I would pull out Mélenchon’s head, in big letters on the leaflets. It was almost guaranteed success. (…) But as soon as we came across a white person, not just in the countryside, even in the neighborhoods, it became a barrier. (…) So, I would present another document, without his face or his name,” he says, saying he felt “shame”He attacks even more violently the entourage of the leader of LFI, accused “to court Jean-Luc, gun-carrier, towel-carrier, water-carrier, to be invested in the right place.”

Francois Ruffin “is doing something that doesn’t suit me at all, he’s starting to score own goals a bit too much”, reacts the deputy Eric Coquerel, following the intervention of his colleague on BFMTV. For another rebellious elected official, the Marseillais Sébastien Delogu, his attitude is even “pitiful”, he declared on Sud Radio. On Thursday, it was the turn of the coordinator of the rebels, Manuel Bompard, to launch a scathing response. The accusations “hurtful, unfair and dangerous” of the Picardy deputy are “a complete disgrace and not half”he wrote on X.

2 MP booed during debate at Fête de l’Huma

Invited to debate Saturday at the Fête de l’Huma with other left-wing deputies on the theme of the union of the working classes, the deputy of the Somme arrives on the stage of the Agora to boos. At his side, the rebellious deputy Raphaël Arnault returns to the recent declarations of the elected Picard, whom he accuses of committing a “political error”. “Dividing the working classes among themselves is not the right way to do it,” says the member of the anti-fascist movement The Young Guard, cheered by the crowd. “François, you recently went on BFM, and I tell you with the greatest militant sincerity that I can muster, you have hurt a lot of comrades, especially the youth who mobilized during the elections.”, he throws at him again.

If it is normal to “to argue in the family”, notes François Ruffin, he maintains his criticisms, asking the public: “When Jean-Luc Mélenchon says that we must do everything for young people and working-class neighborhoods, and abandon the rest, who agrees with that line?” Faced with a few raised hands, he insists that on the contrary, it is necessary “act for all working classes”convinced that there is “a huge common ground between the France of towns and the France of towers, and a path to unite them.” No question of going “seduce racists”retorts Raphaël Arnault, while at the moment of closing the debate, some chant “François Ruffin is not a comrade”, while others applaud the deputy from the Somme.

During his meeting, Jean-Luc Mélenchon attempts appeasement: “Yes (…) we are trying to bring the working class people of the neighborhoods to vote en masse. (…) Come with us! Or, if there are populations that are more familiar to you, city centers that are more welcoming to you than to us, well (…) convince them to come,” he says.

Still since the Fête de l’Huma, LFI’s partners within the New Popular Front have called for calming things down. “Stop the fire”, exclaims the leader of the communists, Fabien Roussel. As for the ecologist Marine Tondelier, she invites her political allies to no longer “gives itself[r] on show”. Because during this time, “the others eat popcorn”.

3 Reactions continue on the left

LFI MP Raphaël Arnault speaks out again on Sunday, this time on X. “While it was good to address certain points yesterday, particularly with François Ruffin, it is essential to remember that if things sometimes flare up at the Agora, our enemies are certainly not at the Fête de l’Huma”writes the elected official, who calls for “Building unity against fascism“, “no matter our differences.”

“François Ruffin has hurt and disappointed people,” reacts Mathilde Panot, interviewed on France 3 about the incident the day before. “This is what was expressed during this Fête de l’Humanité and it did not come only from the rebels (…). We are addressing all the citizens of this country”, says the head of the LFI deputies.

On the Socialist Party side, former president and new MP François Hollande shares François’ analysis. Ruffin on the functioning of La France insoumise. He “says from within LFI what we have been saying from outside for a long time: a sectarian, communitarian, brutal drift and a minority strategy”, he believes on the set of the “Grand Jury” RTL-The Figaro-Public Senate-M6.