Unknown to the general public, the former boss of the Young Communists is officially launching his campaign this weekend during the Huma Festival.
He is the new face of the French Communist Party. Léon Deffontaines will be one of the headliners of the Huma Festival which began on Friday September 15 at the Plessis-Pâté air base (Essonne). He was named head of the French Communist Party (PCF) list in the European elections at just 27 years old.
>> “We do not have the same ideas”: at the Huma Festival, Fabien Roussel accepts his refusal of a common list of the left with the Europeans
Embarrassed smile of the good student in a fitted white shirt, the young Amiens, who grew up in the current constituency of the rebellious François Ruffin, will try to show that he has the shoulders. Foal of Fabien Roussel, he counts “stick to the coattails” from the communist leader until the vote. We must follow in the footsteps of “his mentor”, without remaining in the shadows, with a tour of the federations in tandem and this poster with their two portraits, which will be unveiled at the Huma Festival. The current leadership wants to refresh the image of an aging party with one who claims – as former secretary general of the Young Communists – 6,000 more memberships in four years.
“Create the duel” with the RN
This is a “hardworking, methodical and he has the energy, the desire”praises Ian Brossat. “He is young, but has thick skin”, ensures the former head of the PCF European list. The one who failed to send a communist deputy to Strasbourg wants to believe it this time: “The PC has returned to the landscape.” But only condition to succeed “campaign on the popularity of Fabien Roussel”.
The idea is to campaign against the RN and play anti-Jordan Bardella, the head of the National Rally list in the European elections. Both are practically the same age, experiencing the same meteoric rise in their respective parties and both want to speak to the “Peripheral France”, “the France of the territories”. Except that the two do not play in the same league, Léon Deffontaines is much less known, he knows it, but he wants to “create the duel” with the disciple of Marine Le Pen, in vain for the moment: “I try to tease him on social networks, but he doesn’t react”admits the protégé of Fabien Roussel who is preparing a campaign on RN lands as the national secretary of the PCF during the presidential election.
A slight internal discomfort
But this designation of Léon Deffontaines as head of the list causes a slight unease internally. As proof, figures from the Communist Party that we were able to contact refuse to comment on this choice of leadership. Some admit that they do not know Léon Deffontaines well enough to talk about him. Others have an opinion, but prefer to keep it to themselves. “He is the victim of a strategy,” whispers one of them, without saying more.
Does it serve as a fuse for Fabien Roussel in his quest for independence within the New Ecological and Social Popular Union (Nupes)? As if to reassure himself, Léon Deffontaines assures franceinfo: “I have the support of the party which is very strong behind, that’s what will allow me to withstand the blows.”