“Keep fighting. For my part, I tried but I can’t do it anymore.” Taha Bouhafs, candidate of the New People’s Ecologist and Social Union for the legislative elections (Nupes) in the 14th district of the Rhône, announced on Twitter, on the night of Monday May 9 to Tuesday May 10, that he was giving up running because “unprecedented attacks”.
— Taha Bouhafs (@T_Bouhafs) May 9, 2022
The journalist and activist of La France insoumise indicated that he was the target “every day” of one “new slander, new insult, new death threat” Where “of a new accusation”. “I underestimated the power of this system when it wants to crush you. I would have liked to hold on, I would have liked to make you proud, all of you who, like me, are ‘nothing'”he laments.
“I’ve been supported, not enough to hold on, but enough to be grateful for. I hope this statement doesn’t make you give up.”
Guest of “4 Truths” on France 2, the rebellious deputy Alexis Corbière confirmed his withdrawal. At the question “Will he no longer be the People’s Union candidate?”the elected LFI replied: “I think it should be interpreted that way. That’s what he just announced in the middle of the night.” A decision he regrets and which “hurts him”.
“Taha Bouhafs was the example of these young people from sometimes disadvantaged social backgrounds, who are committed and who are not always perfect”said Alexis Corbière again. Contacted by franceinfoMP Clémentine Autain said that “the campaign from the far right against him, a young man from working-class neighborhoods and immigrants, is unjust and unbearable”.
“Taha Bouhafs withdraws his candidacy for the legislative elections. A mob is relentless against him”, regretted Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a little later, on Twitter. “At 25, it’s hard to live with death threats and daily public questioning. I blame myself for not having been able to comfort him as much as necessary”, adds the leader of La France insoumise.
Taha Bouhafs withdraws his candidacy for the legislative elections. A mob attacked him. At 25, it’s hard to live with daily death threats and public accusations. I blame myself for not having been able to comfort him as much as necessary.
— Jean-Luc Melenchon (@JLMelenchon) May 10, 2022
On Monday, the national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, had asked La France insoumise to “review application” of Taha Bouhafs, singled out by the opposition and part of the political class for having been sentenced at first instance to a fine of 1,500 euros for “public insult on account of origin”, after having qualified the police unionist Linda Kebbab “service Arabic”, a conviction which he appealed.
On franceinfo, Manuel Bompard, Nupes campaign director for the legislative elections, replied to Fabien Roussel that it was not up to him to “choose the candidates of La France insoumise” while indicating that no candidacy was confirmed. “We have not definitively defined the nominations, it is not published. This constituency, like the others, will be invested in the days to come”he specified.