Quatennens reinstated in the LFI group, an "unacceptable" decision for many Nupe allies

April 11, 2023

Deputy Adrien Quatennens, suspended four months after his conviction for violence against his ex-companion, was reinstated on Tuesday in the LFI group in the National Assembly, a decision deemed “unacceptable” by many allies within Nupes.

“There was a vote. The decision is to reinstate Adrien Quatennens,” said LFI MP Alma Dufour.

In a secret ballot, 47 LFI deputies voted for a return on Thursday, 15 voted against, two abstained.

But 53 deputies considered, in a second vote, that “the conditions” for his reinstatement were “met”, only six were against.

The return of the deputy from the North was conditional on following an accountability course with feminist associations.

Several voices within the left alliance Nupes pleaded for his definitive exclusion.

This reintegration is “unacceptable and incompatible with the values defended and carried by the Nupes”, writes the PS in a press release. “It’s a political mistake.”

Since the start of the affair in September, the subject has crystallized tensions within LFI itself, in particular after controversial tweets from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, to whom Adrien Quatennens is very close.

The tribune had praised the “dignity” and the “courage” of his protege, repeating to him his “trust” and his “affection”. He then tried to correct the situation, saying that “a slap is unacceptable in any case”, then defended him again in February: “Leave him alone”, “he has been punished enough”.

Adrien Quatennens was given a four-month suspended prison sentence in December by the Lille Criminal Court.

In the process, he was suspended until April 13 from his group and returned to the National Assembly in mid-January as a non-registered.

A joint “working group” of four people had been appointed within LFI to assess the conditions for his return.

Adrien Quatennens said he was “engaged in an internship, being finalized, meeting the expected criteria”, according to a press release from the group.

Few rebellious deputies spoke after the vote. On BFMTV, deputy Aymeric Caron said he was “in solidarity” with the decision, stressing that according to “left values”, once the sentence has been served, “we must not strike someone with the seal of infamy” .

“There was a discussion. It is indeed a group which discusses”, simply said the deputy Alexis Corbière in front of the press.

The subject remains sensitive within the Insoumis, where several elected officials, like him, Manon Aubry or Danielle Simonnet had called for a close “revoyure”.

In question in particular, a television interview with Adrien Quatennens in December, in which he detailed the circumstances of the slap inflicted on his wife and seemed, according to Danielle Simonnet, “to reverse the assaulted / aggressor relationship”.

According to the LFI press release, Adrien Quatennens “claimed to regret” these “media expressions”, and “acknowledges that some of his remarks had the effect, without his intention, of relativizing the seriousness of the facts”.

The decision is criticized by several Nupes partners.

Among the Socialists, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, internal opponent of First Secretary Olivier Faure, denounced “the shame” of such a decision, as did the first deputy secretary Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol.

The communist boss Fabien Roussel, already at odds with LFI, said he did not want to “meddle in other people’s business”, as he asked LFI during his congress this weekend.

Among environmentalists, the head of deputies Cyrielle Chatelain judged that Adrien Quatennens could “not return to the heart of the intergroup” Nupes.

Several elected environmentalists had also left the hemicycle in February when the deputy spoke for the first time since his conviction.

His intervention had also aroused boos and clicks from the desk in the ranks of the majority.

The leader of the Renaissance deputies Aurore Bergé also tried, in vain, in March to have a text voted to impose a sentence of ineligibility on more perpetrators of violence, in particular domestic violence.

After the announcement of the reinstatement of Adrien Quatennens, she invited the left to “look in a mirror after that”.

The Minister responsible for gender equality Isabelle Rome asked the question of the resignation of Adrien Quatennens, which would be “a signal for all women”.