In Toulon, LFI sets its conditions for joining the left-wing list

They met, they spoke... and they're going to do it again. Discussions continue between La France Insoumise (LFI), which is advancing in the shadows, and the Toulon en Commun (TEC) list, which has been in full swing for six months behind their candidate Magali Brunel. At stake, still: trying to unite all the left-wing forces under the same banner for the upcoming municipal elections in Toulon. This is, in essence, what emerged from the "popular assembly" convened at the initiative of TEC on Thursday evening in La Rode.

The second piece of information is that this union remains, at this time, at least hypothetical. During the previous meeting between the two camps, at the beginning of the summer, LFI thus set demands for "a partnership" which - to put it mildly - made their "comrades" grind their teeth. And this, from Place Publique to the Communist Party, via the ecologists, the regionalists or the PS, the different sensitivities grouped within TEC. "Red lines have been crossed" , we could hear in the ranks of the Arnal room.

The Insoumis demand the top of the list

"They want a list built on the electoral weight of the last presidential and European elections, with a maximum of 20% of non-party candidates," explained the communist Didier Quattropani, who was part of the delegation participating in the political negotiations. "They also want the head of the list," which would effectively oust Magali Brunel.

According to the CGT union representative at the arsenal, the LFI representatives showed up at the meeting "with their chests out, arms outstretched," "claiming that we had no choice." They also reportedly insisted that they did not want to return to Toulon en commun, a group they have already left with a bang twice in the last six years.

In response to this presentation, reactions, half-outraged, half-disillusioned, erupted in the room. "What weight will our assembly have if we cut off Magali's head?" asked one activist. "That's called a diktat. There's nothing to negotiate with them," dismissed another. "They want a partnership and, at the same time, impose their way of working on us," he was also mocked. "If we agree to be their poster hangers, it could work..." joked the communist elected representative André de Ubeda.

No "major objection" from TEC to continuing dialogue

End of story? Well, no. "We can't afford to deprive ourselves of this significant portion of the electorate," one speaker reminded us. "We're dying of the division on the left," someone also said. Magali Brunel herself was keen to make her contribution. "Our unifying discourse must be authentic. Accepting the game of negotiations with the Insoumis doesn't mean accepting everything," the candidate stressed, calling for the continuation of discussions. "Our comrades at LFI, with whom we have already fought battles, are not all clones of Jean-Luc Mélenchon."

In the show of hands, no "major objections" to the resumption of discussions were ultimately expressed. "We must not give the impression that we are the ones slamming the door ," explains a political expert.

At the next meeting, TEC promised to affirm "its plural and collective character" , its "principles" and everything that makes it "unique ". Less well organized, with no elected officials in its ranks but aware of its strength and a certain electoral dynamic, will LFI agree to revise its copy, even if it means disavowing itself? Nothing is less certain.