PCF leader Fabien Roussel rejected on Sunday on LCI La France insoumise's call for a joint candidacy in the 2027 presidential election. He called Jean-Luc Mélenchon the « worst second-round candidate » and cited a break due to municipal elections. Roussel favors discussing concrete measures amid the current oil shock.
Fabien Roussel, PCF national secretary, appeared on LCI on Sunday. He responded to the call made Thursday by Manuel Bompard, La France insoumise coordinator, proposing an agreement on the program and candidacies for presidential, senatorial, and legislative elections with ecologists and communists.
Roussel mocked the proposal, saying it made him « laugh » as it amounted to rallying behind Jean-Luc Mélenchon. He decried « electoral haggling » and recalled the 2024 legislative agreement under the Nouveau Front populaire, where PCF backed joint candidates. Yet, those same Insoumis ran against communist, socialist, and ecologist mayors in municipal elections, leaving a « bitter taste » for him.
The left's municipal setbacks were « because of them », Roussel added, pointing to a « break ». Personally, he views « Jean-Luc Mélenchon as certainly the worst second-round candidate ». On a PCF candidacy in 2027, he said « we'll see », pending the July congress.
Instead of negotiations, Roussel suggests focusing on the current oil shock, with strong measures to regain control over energy policy and cap margins.
