In Amiens, Mélenchon and Ruffin (on) play the complicity

The moments when these two occur together are quite rare, you should not miss them. Thursday evening in Amiens, in the stronghold of François Ruffin, it was only the second time that Jean-Luc Mélenchon came in a meeting with his young ally and nonetheless rival of rebellious France (LFI). The first edition dates back to April 2019 on the occasion of the European elections.

Before getting on the boards, the two men were then found in the kitchen of the deputy of the Somme, where the latter used to record messages for his TV You Tube. In a hooded jogger next to "his president" in a tie, Ruffin had launched joyfully: "It's the duel that all political journalists are waiting for, it's Booba against Kaaris!" Mélenchon had acquiesced with good grace by trying to clumsily mimic the rappers' gestures to show his partner quadra that he was still in the loop.

Thursday evening, against the backdrop of municipal elections and mobilization against pension reform, we take the same two and start again. Always a black jacket, white shirt and red tie and Ruffin, a sharp silhouette of a sportsman in a white shirt close to the body. In front of them half a thousand supporters of the left crowd in the small Valentin-Haüy gymnasium, in a district north of Amiens where Ruffin comes to play ping-pong with his children on Wednesdays.

United around two common goals

The two sparring-partners decided to play the complicity, and even to play it. A desk table with two high stools have been installed on the platform, as in the theater. "Jean-Luc said to me: I have an idea, you talk a little, I speak a little, we do that ping-pong way", explains to the audience the founder of Fakir "independent and alternative newspaper engaged on the left ". Mélenchon settled on a stool and left on the tablet his watch, an old tick inherited from his mentor François Mitterrand.

By way of warm-up, Ruffin swings directly to the face of his guest a strong compliment: "Jean-Luc is one of the men who make politics less arid, without small crap calculations". "Jean-Luc" cashed with pleasure. "This afternoon we were with the railway workers and on BFM they passed the images of us with a banner" the enemy brothers ", it's terrible whatever we do ...", quips the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône who , facing the deputy-journalist Ruffin will refrain from going too far in the media criticism. However, he lets out his annoyance towards those who scrutinize their activities. Compare them to better separate them. "He may be in merguez and me elsewhere, in the end it pisses! "Enraged the head of the Insubmissives.

United around the two common objectives, the success of the municipal elections and the revival of the movement against pension reform, the two stars will display throughout the evening their convergences rather than their divergences, which are far from nonexistent. The proof in this city of Amiens where the left leaves united to the municipal ones, a strategy on which Mélenchon, who slammed the door of the PS to create his own shop, has difficulty in engaging.

A rivalry that does not exclude respect

The two officials also clashed in November on participation in the march against Islamophobia, co-organized by the controversial CCIF, described by some specialists as the hideout of radical Islamists. But they also share the same vehement criticism of capitalism, a taste for culture - especially history - as well as the ability to strike through politics.

The deputy of Marseille is ecstatic in front of "J'veux du soleil", the documentary directed by Ruffin on yellow vests. He said it out loud to Amiens: "We all have a debt to him, I don't say that because he is a friend, it is the first time that a social movement is told by one of ours . "

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The occasional rivalry does not exclude the respect and sympathy that really exist between the two members. "There is no rivalry between them," says Eric Coquerel, the LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis. Rather, it is his political weight and his autonomy that give François a special place. "

It is almost 10 pm Thursday evening. After several charges against the government and the shareholders "who have never touched so many dividends", the director of "Merci patron" ended up sitting down. He listened greedily to Mélenchon invoking "old Jaurès" and the conquest of retirement at age 65. "And now, more than a century later, we will find that it is better to leave at 66 or 67 years of age," says Mélenchon, forgetting that he himself has passed this age and refuses to liquidate his retirement. ...

But the eloquence of the old tribune and his facility to base his demonstration on historical backgrounds still impressed Ruffin. "Yes, I like to be in a meeting with him and I appreciate his public speaking skills, even if mine is a little different. Everyone has their own style, ”he says after the meeting. Mélenchon, emptied by a day of demonstrations and speaking, suddenly disappeared after asking: "Where do I go from?" "