Presidential 2022: which parties will apply the gauges in their meetings? – LCI

Whatever their decision, they are all within their rights. Monday, December 27, faced with the rise of the Omicron variant, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, announced the entry into force of gauges for cultural events (2000 people maximum indoors and 5000 outdoors).

But the latter do not concern political meetings, protected by the Constitution. It is not possible to impose a limit on the number of participants, nor to ask them to be in possession of a health pass (or vaccination). Also, compliance with these gauges is subject to the goodwill of political parties.

However, as early as Tuesday, La République en Marche had indicated that it would apply them. “Obviously, the majority will impose themselves to respect the fixed gauges”, had tweeted the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand. This Wednesday, the Socialist Party told LCI that it would also follow “what the government is asking for” concerning the gauges, and wished to remind that all its last public meetings were held in the respect of the barrier gestures, with control of the sanitary pass and the possibility of being tested on site. No Anne Hidalgo meeting is on the program for the next few weeks.

In the entourage of Yannick Jadot also, we assure that the gauges will be applied. “We have designed our public meetings in a format involving reduced gauges which respect the indications of the government”, we told LCI, taking as an example the candidate’s trip to Laon on December 11, bringing together less than 400 people. “We have also planned outdoor formulas and digital formats for public events”, added this member of the MEP’s team, who asks “to the government to organize a meeting with the leaders of the political parties and the campaigns so that a clear framework is fixed collectively”.

On the right, Valérie Pécresse wishes to find “the right balance between democratic requirements and health constraints”, told AFP Geoffroy Didier, communication director of candidate LR. “We have always respected the sanitary rules and will continue to do so”, corn “the crisis should not put the debate under cover during the presidential election”, he clarified.

On the other hand, other parties have indicated that they will not limit the number of activists at their next meetings. “The question does not arise”, declared the deputy and spokesperson of the National Assembly, Sébastien Chenu, on Europe 1 this Wednesday, recalling rightly that the Constitution allowed “until proven otherwise” the holding of “political meetings and meetings without limitation”. “This does not prevent taking a number of measures” such as barrier gestures or social distancing, he added, while Marine Le Pen must officially launch her campaign on January 15 and 16, 2022 by a “presidential convention” in Reims (Marne).

“We are not going to change anything in our agenda for the next four months and we will have meetings of all sizes”, explained to AFP Olivier Ubéda, national director of events for the far-right candidate Eric Zemmour (Reconquest!). “The more people, the better” on the electoral level, he said, stressing that “not a cluster was detected following the Villepinte meeting” which brought together 13,000 people on December 5.

On RMC, rebellious deputy Eric Coquerel judged that he would be “problematic of establishing a gauge” for the meetings of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is organizing a rally on January 16 at the Beaujoire park-expo, in Nantes. The party does not wish to apply the “liberticidal measures” government, it is also argued. “We can certainly think about density issues”, however proposed the parliamentarian, explaining the possible “cinema financing problems” that such a decision could pose.

Guillaume Lacroix, president of the Left Radical Party and supporter of Christiane Taubira, called on franceinfo at “the responsibility” candidates and political parties so that “public meetings are not clusters”. “I don’t imagine for a moment that anyone is playing with fire on this crisis”, he added, because “the question of the pandemic does not end with democracy”.