In politics, as in any other field, repairing takes time. It is a craft, less spectacular than acts of force and insults, but essential in the current period and defines the role of the deputies of the New Popular Front (NFP). Calming, protecting, repairing. This is the only mandate that the French people gave us on Sunday, July 7th, by giving a (slight) advantage to the deputies of the New Popular Front. They have shown their attachment to a different solution than divisive speeches and policies that pit people against each other in France and in our territories. This (slight) victory rewards a ground campaign, a human, humanistic campaign, against the distant contempt and verticality, against candidates of the National Rally (RN) who were sometimes absent from the field, with posters invisible in many towns and villages. Hundreds of thousands of French people knocked on doors, handed out leaflets, talked to people, everywhere, meeting hundreds of thousands of others during this short campaign, without preconceptions, with the desire to listen, exchange, and persuade.
This (slight) victory was often met with closed doors, aborted discussions, refusals, with CNews as background noise in the living room. A brief victory that could be even shorter if we do not listen to anger, frustration, misery, and abandonment. There is a whole France that has closed its doors to our utopias of a better world in recent years, no longer believing in them. And it is not just the fault of others: it is also the fault of the left. Because we failed to place at the center of our proposals the reduction of territorial disparities, access to healthcare, the vitality of our villages, public services as a common heritage, the empowering school, the right to mobility, dignified housing, the Republic everywhere, and for everyone. Emmanuel Macron’s two terms, with his verticality and contempt for “those who are nothing,” have neglected a large part of our country. For all those who will be in positions of responsibility in the future, it will be necessary to calm, protect, and repair all that has been broken. But not only that.
Because, on the other side of our relief, for eleven million people, behind the disappointed comeback after the first round, there is humiliation, the hurt of being so close, the shattered hope, the feeling of a confiscated democracy, the immense feeling of eternal defeat. The responsibility now falls on those in power to address the grievances and frustrations of the people, to work towards healing the wounds and restoring faith in democracy. It is essential to listen and understand the needs and concerns of all citizens, to work towards building a more inclusive and cohesive society. Only through sincere efforts to repair the damage and restore trust can the country move towards a brighter future.
