'There's another way': 'France has shown the world that we can beat fascism'
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00:00Let's cross back to the headquarters of the New Popular Front this evening.
00:05Joy, we saw earlier on the screens there, and I'm pleased to say that we can speak live
00:09to Danielle Obono. She is an MP for the party, a pretty well-known MP here in France.
00:16Good evening to you, thanks very much indeed for talking to us on France 24.
00:22Good evening, thanks for having me.
00:24Can I ask you, first of all, congratulations on what appears like a
00:28great win for the New Popular Front this evening. Is your leader,
00:33Jean-Luc Mélenchon, now going to put his name forward to be France's Prime Minister?
00:40Well, let us celebrate this moment for a minute before, you know, thinking about
00:46government and anything, because tonight France has shown the world that we can beat fascism.
00:53It's not a done deal as it's been told us for weeks and weeks. And I think it's an important
01:00moment for our country, of course, but also for Europe. And I think this message resounds around
01:06the world, because it's been a tough fight. We were against the entire mainstream media,
01:13the entire political system. They've been trying to tell us that we will be defeated,
01:18that there was no way we could unite. We united and we showed it was possible to
01:24say to the people there's another way. And I think that's what we're feeling today. I think
01:30millions of people are relieved and very happy. And I think we're going to just celebrate tonight.
01:36And then we'll talk about how we're going to govern. But one thing is for sure on our side
01:42is we've been elected to implement our programme. And that's the thing that will be
01:49necessary if we want to push the far right, the national rally back to the bean of history,
01:58as we said, here in France. So that's the main point that I think is important to say tonight.
02:05Well, let me bring in at this point, Olivia, who I was speaking to a while ago before we got cut
02:11off by your leader. I wonder what you make of your colleague there within the left wing alliance,
02:16not giving a very clear answer as to whether or not Jean-Luc Mélenchon might be a candidate for
02:20prime minister. So let me pose that same question to you. Is it going to be your leader, the
02:24socialist leader, who's going to step up now? Well, I think that we all have to discuss. We
02:29are an alliance and we have to be responsible. So we'll talk. I think in a few hours, the chiefs
02:35are going to call them each other and we are going to see and debate. But you see the confusion
02:42for people out there. There are four of you, four parties, four leaders. And effectively,
02:48you're both saying we actually have no idea who's in charge right now because it's a union.
02:54We have to debate and discuss. And I think it's the way it should be. Let me bring back in Daniel
03:01Obono. Mr. Obono, it won't be a surprise to you that Jean-Luc Mélenchon is a divisive figure.
03:08There are people on the left who like what you stand for as a party, whose values echo with
03:14them, but who don't particularly like him as an individual. They don't like the way that he speaks.
03:20Given how well your bloc has done tonight in the interest of stability in France,
03:26is it the time to let another left-wing leader come forward and play that role?
03:34Really, listen, tonight we showed the world and the denier in France that what was important
03:41is a radical programme. It's not about how people talk. It's not about how they behave,
03:46if they wear suits and tie. It's about what you stand for. And I think if I may talk about
03:52Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he showed over the past decades he is the one who rebuilt the left,
03:59a real left. He is the one who got 22% of the votes at the previous presidential election. He
04:06is the one that made this alliance possible. So we talk about our partners, of course. This
04:14has got to be a collective decision. It will depend also on how big our groups are. And that's
04:22the way it works in any other parliamentary group. So we talk about that. But really,
04:29what the people showed tonight, what the vote showed, is that no matter how much bad things
04:38are told about us, we've been targeted by everyone, and especially Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
04:43Half of the campaign has been about targeting him. And people were not fooled by that,
04:49because people look at what was at stand, and they said that we want this programme. That's
04:54the most important thing. And Jean-Luc Mélenchon, as I said, is ready for that. There are many other
05:00people in our group that are ready for that. And we'll talk about it and we'll discuss about it
05:06with our partners. But there's no, you can't just say, we'll pick this one or this one. It's not the
05:11media who are going to decide it. It's not Macron who's going to decide it. It's our parliamentary
05:17group and the majority in the National Assembly that will decide who is going to be the Prime
05:22Minister, whether it's he or she, because that's also a possibility. Danielle, OK, so you don't
05:27want to commit. But Olivier and Danielle, just looking at the figures, so if we look at the
05:32Left Alliance, 68 to 74 seats for the France Insoumise, your party, Danielle François Mbaude,
05:3963 to 69 for the Socialist, Olivier, which means either party could potentially be on top.
05:45Just for the sake of the audience, France 24 listeners, give both of you a couple of names
05:50that you believe that you would fully back within both of your parties. Olivier. I think that we need
05:56to gather. So as we don't have any... That's not a name. No, no, I mean, no, that's not a name. I'm
06:02not going to give you a name tonight. But as we don't have any absolute majority, we need to find
06:10when to vote the budget and so on. So we need to find someone that is able to gather the whole left.
06:18And maybe some other deputies. Danielle, if you're still with us.
06:26Yes, I'm still with you. But, you know, it's not it's not a presidential election.
06:29It's not about one person. It's about a parliamentary group who is able to implement
06:35a program. Really, it's not about picking the most likable or the one who has the most bright smile.
06:43Really, we're talking about politics. How we change every day's life for millions of people
06:48in this country. We've got to have someone who is able to stand strong and to be able to
06:55and fight for the people. I think those are the things that people are asking us to do,
07:01to fight for them and to change their lives. And the person we're going to choose
07:06and propose as prime minister should be someone who is able to do that. I think that's
07:11the main thing that people are waiting for right now.