in Montreuil, left-wing voters divided over the Mélenchon case before the legislative elections

“Hello, this is Sabrina Ali Benali, candidate for the New Popular Front in Montreuil and Bagnolet!” With a smile on her lips and leaflets in her hand, the candidate of the Union of the Left for the legislative elections walks up and down the Ruffins market, in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), Wednesday June 26. However, in this constituency where the left received more than 74% of the votes in the European elections – a record – it is not the Macronist or National Rally candidates that the emergency physician fears the most.

In four days, Sabrina Ali Benali will have to face Alexis Corbière, outgoing deputy, elected since 2017. Local baron of La France insoumise but critic of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he did not obtain the nomination of the New Popular Front (NFP). .. but displays on its leaflets the faces of its main architects, from the socialist Olivier Faure to the rebellious François Ruffin via the ecologist Marine Tondelier. To make up for her lack of notoriety, the new candidate has been methodically surveying the constituency for two weeks, flanked by a swarm of LFI deputies – that morning, Clémence Guetté, Danièle Obono and Antoine Léaument came to lend her a hand. When introducing herself to voters, she never forgets to point out that she “the support of Jean-Luc Mélenchon”.

In this popular neighborhood, the name of the rebellious leader is a bearer. “I love it”assures Fabrice*, security guard. “He defends the rights of everyone, especially the disabled. He even cried once while giving a speech, it went straight to my heart.” Before this morning, he had never heard of Sabrina Ali Benali. He does not know the name of his party either, much less that of the New Popular Front. But on Sunday, he will vote for her. “She is a welcoming, smiling, kind woman.” And then, she works with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whom he would like to see as Prime Minister.

“Mélenchon, president, Mélenchon president!”, Bertah also thunders, arms raised in victory, in front of the cameras present that morning. Certainly, she “like” the LFI deputy for the Somme François Ruffin, but Jean-Luc Mélenchon is his “favorite” : “He has a big mouth, like me”, says this psychiatric nurse, laughing. Above all, “he defended Palestine, while no one talks about it”points out the sixty-year-old, native of Oran, Algeria.

Next to a small group busy towing for the NFP candidate, a fruit and vegetable seller wonders about Sabrina Ali Benali: “She is with Mélenchon?” Acknowledgments in the face. “Vote Sabrina!”, he then thunders, to the applause of the activists. He won’t be able to do it: he lives in Drancy, a little further north in Seine-Saint-Denis. But he will also choose an LFI candidate. “They are not racist”he justifies, without saying more.

“Corbière, he’s also with Mélenchon, right?”asks a passerby, grabbing a leaflet for the official candidate. “He will go with the communists or the socialists!”, replies Brahim Benramdan, former LFI opposition municipal representative in Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis), who came to tow for the emergency doctor. In reality, Alexis Corbière has not announced his intention to leave the party, and claims to be part of the “Popular Front” on his campaign material. “I don’t forget the loss of nationality [proposée puis abandonnée par François Hollande] and the Labor law made by the socialists”nevertheless recalls Brahim Benramdan, trying to convince the divided voter. “In the media, it’s always the same people who are attacked. (…) Sabrina is a candidate who looks like us.”

However, the names of the local candidate and the rebellious leader are not unanimous, including among left-wing voters. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon? Oh no!”says Linda, a retired worker, struggling to know who she will vote for on Sunday. “I voted for him in the last presidential election, but now he scares me. It’s because of his attitude, and then, when he talks about Jews…”, says this 77-year-old Portuguese immigrant. She would have liked to vote socialist, but, due to the union of the left, there will be no PS candidate in the constituency. So, she will perhaps let herself be seduced by the candidate from the presidential camp… or even that of the National Rally. “Still, Jordan Bardella, he looks good”she slips.

A little further on, Maxime, in his forties with a full bag, is also a little fed up with the rebellious leader. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon takes up too much space, he has a watermelon like no other”believes this manager, who remains marked by a now famous projection of the ex-MP: “The Republic is me!” The father also questions the strong support of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his close associates for the Palestinian people in recent months – a “strategy of seducing the electorate with rather big strings”according to him. However, if he prefers “the simplicity” from François Ruffin to the personality of the founder of the Left Party, he will not hesitate to put an NFP ballot in the ballot box on Sunday. Without knowing yet which one.

Céline, a 39-year-old nurse, met near another Montreuillo market, does not even know that she will have the choice between two candidates claiming to be from the New Popular Front. The winner doesn’t matter, she believes: “I favor a party and ideas over a person.” Certainly, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is “a controversial personality” in view of “the way he expresses himself”but she “pass over”.

“The important thing is that the RN does not win.”

Céline, resident of Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis)

at franceinfo

If the left were to defy the predictions of the polls and win at the end of the second round, Céline would not, on the other hand, be “not too hot” to see the rebel pack his bags in Matignon. “He’s a little too crazy.”

The time is no longer for disagreements, but for union between the different shades of the left, argues Pascal, a former communist activist, then rebellious, who also came to the Ruffins market to tow for the NFP candidate. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon will not be Prime Minister, he said so! So, if he also needs to keep quiet, as some are asking him to do…”, scolds this former executive in the press sector. While playing the part of unity, several left-wing leaders are calling for Jean-Luc Mélenchon not to be the NFP candidate for Matignon in the event of victory.

The former LFI deputy “is perhaps misunderstood” because he starts “anger”, says Faso, 65 years old. This musician was also sensitive to the party’s discourse on the war in Gaza. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced social, racial and segregationist discrimination.” “He’s a good guy”also believes Brigitte, a retired doctor sitting a few steps away. “But he is not always reliable. I don’t know if saying that anti-Semitism is ‘residual’ in France makes him an anti-Semite. But for a politician, that is not clever, she judges. It triggered everything needed to destroy the movement.” union on the left. “He has the skills to be Prime Minister, she adds, but it is too divisive.” Who does she see in her place? The former general secretary of the CFDT “Laurent Berger, perhaps… But he won’t go.”

* The first name of the person interviewed has been changed at their request.

List of candidates in the 7th constituency of Seine-Saint-Denis:

Mr. Yannick DUTERTE (Far left)
Mr. Alexis CORBIÈRE (Various left)
Mr. Sebastien ATLANI (Miscellaneous)
Ms. Aurélie JOCHAUD (Far left)
Ms. Françoise TROVA (National Rally)
Ms. Pauline BRETEAU (Ensemble)
Mr. Eric VERHAEGHE (Various centers)
Mr. Antoine TOCHE (Various right)
Ms. Elsa CAUDRON (Far left)
Ms Sabrina ALI-BENALI (Union of the Left)