A popular caravan stops in Nantes. There are two that crisscross France: one for the east and one for the west, and they stop in twenty cities, especially in the working-class neighborhoods. The western caravan left Rouen on Thursday, and after Rennes and Saint-Brieuc, it was in Nantes on Sunday for its fourth stage. After the presidential and legislative elections, activists are keen to show that the left-wing party is still mobilized on the ground.
Talking about rising prices and falling purchasing power
In the Bellevue district of Nantes this Sunday, Camille and Simon both 25 years old tow for the party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “We are here to tell you about the price increase and the Nupes proposals on purchasing power, Camille politely explains to a young woman on the fourth floor of a building on rue de la Drac. If you want, you can come down, there’s a stand with something to eat, we can talk quietly… — No thanks, she answers. I’m not too interested in politics…”
The main objective of the two young activists is to convince those who abstained in the last elections. After several doors remained closed, that of Jannick, carpenter, opens. Usually, he does not vote for Jean-Luc Mélenchon and looks at the leaflet that Simon hands him with a dubious air. “Between what they say and what they do, it’s two different things, he lets go. Besides, the next election is a long time away now.”
Convincing abstainers and uniting sympathizers
But the arrival of the “popular caravan” also makes people happy. At the bottom of the building, about ten people stop in front of the LFI stand. Among them, Juliette, carer and head of the Insoumis de Saffré action group. “I have always voted on the left, sometimes dragging my feet rather than by complete support. But now I know that Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s program is, in my opinion, the one that best responds to the three democratic, social and ecological.”
Apart from itinerant militants, several Nantes elected officials and sympathizers responded to the call of the Insoumis, like Marina Ferreruela, substitute for MP Andy Kerbrat elected to the second constituency of Loire-Atlantique. After Nantes, the popular caravan will head for Bordeaux for an arrival scheduled for this Monday evening.