In the district of the Northern deputy as elsewhere, the case of the elected official, who recognized domestic violence, divides activists and voters, shared between indignation and defense of their camp.
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“Can we be a deputy, so voting laws, when we are violent with his wife, even if it is not recurrent?” Asks Isabelle Couque, librarian and “feminist in the soul”, who voted for Adrien Quatennens in the legislative elections in the North. For this fifties, the time is “a deep discomfort”. Since the deputy La France Insoumise (LFI) recognized domestic violence, the discomfort is shared by many activists and voters, even if a lot have struggled to speak about it openly. It had to be negotiated for a long time with these three LFI activists so that they would accept a meeting in a Lille cafe, but provided that their names are not mentioned. We are at the heart of the first district of the North, that of Roger Salengro and Pierre Mauroy, in which Adrien Quatennens was elected, in 2017, with forty-six votes in advance on the macronist Christophe Itier. A mandate later, he was re -elected there, in April 2022, with 65.2 % of the votes.
“We don’t want stories. The subject is hot”, let go of one of the “rebellious” activists, a civil servant in a local community. If he refuses to interfere in the private life of Mr. Quatennens, he recognizes that “himself invited us to his bedroom, or not far, with this press release where he delivered the details of his conjugal separation” . By his side, a young woman approves and laments “the image that it sends back. As if we were an accomplice of something, despite ourselves. What do we do now?” C ‘is the third activist who concludes the debate: “You are ridiculous, we do nothing! It is up to justice to decide if it considers that there is matter to do it for a simple slap.” For him, the ‘Elected man lives “what many go through during a divorce. He did bullshit, we are not going to hang it for that! And we can see all the vultures that throw themselves on him, so on our movement , and take the opportunity to discredit us. It’s too easy! “
” it falls bad “
Among the regulars of this coffee from a popular district, two other LFI voters have heard of the case – “of course” -, but assure that “it is pinned by the media. They want the ‘Take up, that’s for sure, “says Quentin Devigne, an optical fiber installer. He recognizes that “it falls badly” and finds that “Quatennens would have done better to be silent. In a few days, the media would have moved on to something else”. His touring companion approves. He finds that “it can happen to everyone to slap, it’s not as if he was beating his wife every day anyway”. This is exactly the kind of arguments that makes Isabelle Couque jump, the librarian. She appreciated Mr. Quatennens, “a well-made head, with a clear speech, but there … I cannot endorse by saying that it does not matter”.
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