The iconoclast Béarnais deputy Jean Lassalle announced on Tuesday March 17 that he would again be a presidential candidate in 2022, with the intention, if he gathers the necessary sponsorships, to embody "
joy
" despite the crisis.
At the head of his movement called "
Resist
", he had already presented in 2017, collecting 1.21% of the vote.
To read also: Jean Lassalle: "You have to defend your accent as you defend your convictions"
With crises like that of Covid-19, “
the sky is darkening, everything is sadness, stress, anguish.
Often, that leads to rivers of blood that carry our young people
”.
Faced with this, "
we must be bearers of joy, touch the hearts of people who are totally haggard, as after the passage of a tsunami,
" said the deputy for Pyrénées-Atlantiques to AFP, confirming his candidacy announced by LCI.
“
For me, politics is an art.
Unfortunately there are not so many artists anymore
, ”continues the 65-year-old shepherd.
"
You have to talk to people at the height of a man, that it is time for a new spring based on joy: those great moments of joy that we find in 98 when we are world champions, that we find at the Liberation, and which reopen all the locked doors
, ”he adds.
“Yellow vest” in November 2018
The one who wore a yellow vest in the hemicycle in November 2018 to support the movement of the same name hopes that some of them
will
"
vote
" for him: "
I would be very honored, because they are the last revolutionary inspiration of 'a very revolutionary country
'.
To collect the 500 sponsorships of mayors necessary, "
I know that it will be difficult, but I had arrived there the last time
", notes the deputy of the group Libertés et Territoires.
During the 2017 campaign, he was particularly illustrated by his surprising statements, sometimes difficult to understand.
The former elected MoDem, for example, affirmed that he feared neither the American president of the time Donald Trump, nor his Russian counterpart Vladimir Poutine because he had “
dealt with bears and wolves
” in his Pyrenean mountains.
In 2017, after the presidential election, the deputy was also the subject of accusations of sexism and sexual assault which he categorically denies.
“
I have no problem with women or with men for that matter.
I think I have a normal attitude
, ”he repeated Tuesday to AFP.