Exchanges that call into question the displayed unity of the New Popular Front (NFP). An anonymous account posted on the social network X, on Thursday July 4, a series of recordings in which the national secretary of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, envisages several political alliances after the election, including between the presidential majority and part of the left.
In these recordings, made the same day on a TGV between Paris and Lille, we hear Fabien Roussel, on the telephone, questioning in particular the possibility of a parliamentary majority. “without the rebels”and claim to have discussed this subject with Olivier Faure, his counterpart in the Socialist Party, but also the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, and the former minister Olivier Véran.
These documents have caused a lot of reaction on social networks, with some people suggesting a “treason”others questioning the veracity of these videos and the possibility that they were generated using AI. Fabien Roussel finally confirmed their authenticity, and contested any desire to turn one’s back on the alliance of left-wing parties. Franceinfo takes stock.
Recordings released by an anonymous person on social networks
Three audio recordings were posted on X on Thursday by an anonymous account, Aminatorux, which has since been deleted. Reprinted by several users, These recordings went viral when they were relayed the next day by the widely followed account Zoé Sagan, known for spreading rumors and false information, and now suspended.
They were also shared by PaduStream, a YouTube videographer specializing in political popularization. Contacted by franceinfo, the latter explains having exchanged with the internet user who recorded the conversation. According to the videographer, he is a left-wing activist who preferred to remain anonymous “for fear of personal and electoral repercussions [négatives pour le NFP]“.
Fabien Roussel discusses possible alliances with the majority and LR
Three days before the second round of the legislative elections, Fabien Roussel has already been defeated in his constituency, but remains the leader of one of the parties of the New Popular Front. While the far right is given victory by the polls, we hear the national secretary of the PCF, in these recordings, imagining what a majority coalition in the National Assembly could look like, capable of preventing the RN from governing with a relative majority.
Among the scenarios discussed, he puts forward the idea of a union without the LFI, to which the Communist Party is nevertheless allied within the New Popular Front. “It all depends on the balance of power” after the elections, we hear Fabien Roussel say. “The New Popular Front, do we have more deputies than the majority and LR? (…) And then, without the rebels, are we a sufficient weight to make a majority with the others?”he continues. At the time of these recordings, the presidential camp had withdrawn the majority of its candidates in the three-way races where their continued participation could have led to the RN winning, but some of its leaders had called for voting neither for the far right nor for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party. “At worst, we can support without participating. Or participate if there is a favorable report.”Fabien Roussel later said. “We try to imagine all the scenarios.”
In another sequence of the recording, he assures to have “put on the table”in a context which is not specified, “a left-wing group in which we would be broad with the socialists, the communists, the overseas, the rebellious-rebellious”without it being known whether he is referring to the outgoing deputies that LFI did not reinvest and to their supporters.
Finally, in a third passage, more difficult to hear, Fabien Roussel also mentions several political figures with whom he assures to have exchanged: “I’ve had [Gérald] Darmanin. (…) Five minutes later, I had [Olivier] Véran. I think they won’t want to.”
Authentic recordings, but denounced by those around him
The entourage of the national secretary of the PCF confirmed to franceinfo the authenticity of these extracts, Wednesday. “Someone recorded Fabien Roussel without his knowledge, on the train taking him from Paris to Lille, last Thursday July 4th in the early afternoon”specifies this source. “Even though it’s not nice to be trapped, he has nothing to hide.” The identity of Fabien Roussel’s interlocutor, on the other end of the line, is however unknown.
Was Fabien Roussel ready to let go of the rebels? Interviewed Tuesday on the show “C à Vous” on France 5, the former communist deputy assured that this conversation dated “before the first round”. In reality, the recordings were made four days after the first round, as confirmed by his entourage.
“At that time (…), there was an almost absolute majority given to the National Rally. Everyone was coming up with scenarios: ‘but how are we going to do it’, ‘we can’t let this happen’, ‘how are we going to do it tomorrow?’ It’s nothing more than that”he justified himself. “Since the announcement of the dissolution, (…) we are four musketeers, four actors building this New Popular Front. (…) We have not given up anything between us in respect, in the fact that we work towards consensus, that is to say never one without the other”he assured.
“Everyone was talking about the RN coming to power. (…) He first shared this fear with a friendalso tempers those around him. He was listing hypotheses, as one often does when thinking about the worst.” “Some people wanted to make him say what he didn’t think, they created montages, they tried to exploit these words.”adds the same source.
A conversation that rekindles the specter of disunity
Since the release of these documents, Fabien Roussel has been strongly criticized by many Internet users. Few left-wing leaders, on the other hand, have publicly commented on the content of these recordings. “Fabien Roussel makes a tragic mistake”declared LFI MP Alma Dufour, interviewed Tuesday evening on BFMTV. “If we remake the Republic on the move [ancien nom du parti d’Emmanuel Macron] bis, and this is what it means to want to eject the rebels (…), we are heading straight towards the victory of the National Rally in 2027″she warned.
Are these recordings likely to undermine the cohesion of the New Popular Front, already plagued by disagreements? The memory of a fracture on the left is not so far away: Fabien Roussel was one of the first to distance himself from the Nupes, a left-wing coalition created in June 2022 in view of the legislative elections. It disintegrated in the fall of 2023, particularly after the attacks of October 7 in Israel, following the refusal of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and several LFI figures to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization. Their position was criticized, at the time, by the communist leader.