Storm on the French left after admitting a Mélenchonist leader who "slapped" his wife

"Say a slap."

These words, written by the leader of La France Insumisa (LFI) Adrien Quatennens, have been enough to trigger an examination of conscience in the French left and an attempt at rebellion against its maximum leader, the veteran Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who in May was candidate for the presidency of the Republic and in June he ran as prime minister in the event of a victory for the left.

Quatennens (Lille, 32 years old), coordinator of LFI, faithful lieutenant of Mélenchon and until a few days ago in the pools for the succession, published this weekend a statement in which he gave details about what the weekly had revealed a few days before

: the declaration of his wife, Céline, at a police station, to notify the authorities of her husband's hostile acts.

The politician admitted: “In a context of extreme tension and mutual aggressiveness, I slapped him.

I gave it, even though I'm not like that, and it never happened again.

I deeply regretted this gesture and asked for many excuses.”

Mélenchon, in a message on the social network Twitter, criticized the police for leaking the information to

, journalists for acting as "

" of intimate life, and social networks for commenting on it.

And he praised Quatennens' "dignity" and "courage" for admitting the facts.

Mélenchon's words outraged the rest of the parties.

Nothing unusual.

They also irritated some of his co-religionists.

And this is exceptional in a party where the word and figure of the leader are rarely questioned in public.

La malveillance policière, le voyeurisme médiatique, les réseaux sociaux are invited in the divorce conflict by Adrien and Céline Quatennens.

Adrien decides to tout prendre sur lui.

I salue sa dignity of him et son courage of him.

Je lui dis ma confiance et mon affection.

– Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) September 18, 2022

The

is not the only macho outburst that these days affects the left, which in France displays the banner of feminism.

The deputy of Europe Ecology The Greens (EELV) Sandrine Rousseau, representative of the left wing of environmentalism, pointed out in a television program the national secretary of her own party, Julien Bayou (Paris, 42 years old), for "behavior whose nature breaks the women's mental health.

She explained that an ex-girlfriend from Bayou told her about it and that a few weeks later the woman attempted suicide.

She did not specify more.

Bayou has stepped down from office.

With the fall, in a few days, of two leaders of the leftist alliance that forms the first opposition bloc in the National Assembly, the debate on sexist violence in politics and the tolerance of the party leaders in the face of accusations against the his.

Fabienne El Khoury, spokesperson for the feminist association

(Daring Feminism), has declared herself "shocked" by Mélenchon's reaction to Quatennens's confession.

"We expected more from the left," she says over the phone.

“We have realized that there is a long way to go to win the fight against conjugal violence and sexist and sexual violence,” she says.

El Khoury regrets that the partisan cause often ends up being a priority over the feminist struggle.

She also points to "the dehumanization of women in a patriarchal society," which, in her opinion, encourages empathy with men rather than women.

Mélenchon, after the hostile reactions to his first tweet, tried to rectify: “Céline and Adrien are my friends.

My affection for him does not mean that I am indifferent to Céline.

She did not want her name mentioned.

But I say it: a slap is unacceptable in all cases.

Adrien takes it.

It's okay".

“The right wing is exemplary in this,” jokes lawyer Caroline Mecary, who was a candidate for NUPES —the alliance that brings together LFI, socialists, communists and environmentalists— in the June legislative elections, and lost.

What Mecary indicates is that violence and abuses do not occur only on the left.

The current Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, spent much of Emmanuel Macron's first five-year presidential term accused of rape, although the case was shelved.

Macron, after being re-elected in the presidential elections, appointed the politician Damien Abad as Minister of Solidarity, accused of rape by several women.

After the legislative, he relieved him.

Abad is still a deputy.

“The only parties that have become aware of the need to deal with violence within the party have been Europa Ecología - Los Verdes and La Francia Insumisa”, says Mecary.

“It is true that systems are not perfect.

Everyone goes blind.

The truth is that, if you have to fight against this violence, you have to provide the Justice and the Police with the means”.

The parties that Mecary cites have internal commissions to deal with complaints.

But they have been criticized for their lack of transparency: a way of washing dirty chauvinist laundry behind closed doors, or of carrying out express processes without guarantees.

“You have to be very careful with the demand for sanctions without a trial, to remove someone without a trial,” says Mecary, alluding to the Quatennens and Bayou cases.

"It's a very totalitarian way of acting."

LFI has recognized feminists, such as the deputy Clémentine Autain.

Along with other leaders, she has forced a party statement reiterating "the commitment without fail in the fight against violence against women."

It is a way of marking distances with Mélenchon, whom, in general, hardly anyone disavows.

The leader, although not a deputy, dreams of being a presidential candidate again in 2027. As is now being shown, he risks becoming a Chinese vase: valuable for this left but, for many, increasingly uncomfortable.

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