At the invitation of Cecile Dumas, the dynamic and determined departmental secretary of the PCF 06, Pierre Laurent, the national secretary of the same party since 2010, came to Nice for a series of meetings with communist leaders and activists. But Pierre Laurent did not want to miss the meeting with the local press to share his thoughts on political current events and the future. He concluded by saying: “Yes, my program is very ambitious, I do not envision the future as a mere extension of the present. A real break is necessary.”
“You say that my goal of defeating Nicolas Sarkozy and imposing our program in the debate seems like the ascent of the Himalayas? Since some have succeeded, that means it is possible!”
Nice Premium: why Nice which is not really a left-wing city and even less a communist one?
Pierre Laurent: “My visit to Nice is part of the dissemination program of the Front de Gauche program of which we have already sold 220,000 copies. It is in high demand, and we expect to sell half a million copies!”
NP: People are interested in your proposals…
Pierre Laurent: “I think so. Beyond its publishing success, it shows that many people are very attentive to an analysis and proposals for breaking away from the current system.”
NP: The consequence of this period of crisis…
Pierre Laurent: “There are evidently social urgencies that the government’s policy is unable to address. And the solutions, all inspired by austerity, only worsen the situation by making the weakest and most vulnerable pay for the mistakes of others, particularly those in the financial sector, rating agencies, and banks. This is profoundly unjust and intolerable.”
NP: What conclusions do you draw from this?
Pierre Laurent: “We propose in our program to return to public control of the financial system to redirect it to its primary role, which is certainly not using money to speculate on international financial markets.”
NP: This seems like an international problem…
Pierre Laurent: “In any case, the situation as it is today and with the measures that international bodies are preparing to take will not be viable in the long term. Only radical resolutions will enable politics to regain control of the situation.”
NP: Returning to national politics and the upcoming presidential elections…
Pierre Laurent: “Obviously, our first goal is to defeat Nicolas Sarkozy.”
NP: Yes, but afterwards, it will be necessary to govern…
Pierre Laurent: “The left must win with a true ‘left-wing’ program, and our candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon will use the first round of the presidential election to assert it loudly in confrontation with other candidates and in the citizen assemblies that we will organize in all departments and major cities, of course, Nice being one of them.”
NP: Presidential election and then the legislative elections…
Pierre Laurent: “Which are just as important because it is there that we will form a future majority that will need to be solid. We must end this ‘monarchist’ regime established by Nicolas Sarkozy and return to a parliamentary republic where our ideas and proposals can have a strategic position.”
NP: Do you want to represent an internal opposition to the majority?
Pierre Laurent: “Our goal will be to impose our orientation of social justice.”
NP: Until then, you will have to work with the socialist program
Pierre Laurent: “Our program is not that of the socialists. We consider it a roadmap, but we will confront socialist candidate François Hollande to improve it with strong signals towards social democracy.”
NP: The left will present three candidates in the presidential election. Isn’t there a risk of vote dispersion?
Pierre Laurent: Voters will have to choose between François Hollande, Eva Joly, and our candidate. In the first round, it will be a fair competition, but I am not a proponent of the ‘useful vote.’ Each must contribute their electoral strength and specificity to the greater cause.”
NP: It’s a gamble. Everyone thinks that it is necessary to create a positive dynamic from the first round.
Pierre Laurent: “I believe that if we must defeat Nicolas Sarkozy, we must also assert our ideas. And finally, why not both at the same time? I think it is possible.”
NP: See you in a few days in Nice?
Pierre Laurent: “Yes, I will return to Nice during the G20 to participate in the alter-globalist demonstration as both the National Secretary of the PCF and the President of the European Left. I hope that the police forces will be able to ensure the smooth running of a peaceful and popular demonstration.”
