Outgoing MP for the 3rd constituency, Jean-François Rousset: “Oppose the National Rally and La France insoumise”

Jean-François Rousset during his vows ceremony in January 2024. Free lunch – Maxime Cohen

Having just arrived from Paris, where he cleared out his office, Jean-François Rousset, outgoing deputy of the presidential majority, is back in Millau, not in his office, but his campaign HQ. He is a candidate for re-election, determined to fight against the extreme right and rebellious France.

How did you experience this hectic start to the week ?

First of all, there was the moment of the results, national and local, which shook and moved me. These are significant percentages, in our constituency a little lower than nationally but the signal is the same. We must consider that a good number of French people have made the effort to go vote and they send a message. And there are things that are wrong, we have identified them. There are people who are unhappy with politics, others with the feeling of insecurity, others who feel far from Paris… hellip; We will have to carefully analyze what people wanted to say. If I am a candidate it is to continue my work as a parliamentarian which consisted of giving a lot of energy to the constituency, both on the ground and in the hemicycle. We must continue, to correct what did not work well. I am thinking in particular of administrative simplification for farmers. We will also have to manage parliamentary work because I realized that the Assembly did not work well with two groups. A very noisy one who wanted to conflict the situation and we saw it clearly with the flag of Palestine brought out by France Insoumise and on the other the National Rally which feeds on all these discussions above ground.

Is the presidential majority responsible for this result favorable to the extreme right?

We can find some responsibility. It would be offbeat and pretentious to say the opposite. This requires us to re-evaluate what we have said and done. I am convinced that we need to go out into the field even more and listen to people and try to find important everyday issues. At home it would be everything we heard during the agricultural movement. Among caregivers, we must be able to convince them that there is a problem with the organization of the healthcare system which can lead to difficulties in seeking treatment. There are proposals that have been put in place which will be implemented concretely in the territory.

Going back to the campaign was obvious ?

Yes, because I am halfway there. I feel like I have worked a lot in the direction I wanted, by listening and bringing together people of good will. Both on the ground and in the chamber. I think it is important to be in these troubled times, with a war on the doorstep of Europe, our values ​​are in danger. I cannot leave the people of Aveyron and the French to face this and not follow the fight against the National Rally. I am from a post-war generation, even if the discourse has changed, we must not be naive. We are facing a wall, whatever alliances are announced, I want to participate in this fight.

Do you expect a tougher campaign than in 2022 ?

Yes. People have changed a little and express themselves without complexes. The RN has won this trivialization. I think we will have a more virulent left. I'm talking about LFI, more than the classic Aveyron left. It will be a campaign directed against the politics of the majority, I accept that and it will be up to me to show that there is another possible voice. I would not like to leave room for people whose political strategy is invective, conflictualization of all subjects and chaos, since they say that it is from chaos that the sixth must be born republic (LFI, Editor’s note). On the other hand, the National Rally which, if it is in power, will be confronted with its contradictions but the French risk paying dearly for it. We cannot have more public and local services and on the other hand lower VAT to 5% and taxes. On concrete subjects we have our say.

In 2022, the left was your main opponent, will the extreme right be a serious opponent for this new campaign?

It's sure that they won't matter anymore. You should know that it is not the same voters who will vote. We must oppose the National Rally and LFI. Without giving any hierarchy. From the experience I have in the hemicycle, LFI has involved all the people of Nupes in situations that are sometimes difficult to manage. When President Zelensky came, we felt some embarrassment from certain Nupes elected officials in not applauding. On the other hand, the RN, with his ideal son-in-law face, cannot hide his realities…hellip; On subjects like the end of life, they come up with arguments that we cannot even take up publicly. It drifted very quickly to things that we can't hear.

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