The Adrien Quatennens Case: A Return to the Electric Assembly

It was back to school for National Assembly deputies, and it was tense to say the least. The deputy of La France Insoumise Adrien Quatennens is back in the hemicycle after several months of absence, due to the accusations of domestic violence against him, and a complaint presented by his ex-partner. He claims to have suffered “physical and moral violence” For years.

On December 13, 2022, he was finally given a four-month suspended prison sentence. Since then he has continued to present himself as a victim of a media lynching and to deny that he is a violent man. Immediately after his conviction, a long interview granted to FM TV it has caused some discomfort to many elected LFIs, such as Manon Aubry or Alma Dufour. For the sociolinguist Noémie Trovato, interviewed in Policythe deputy’s tactic is based on the DARVO strategy which consists in reversing the situation by reversing the roles of victim and aggressor: “The media outings of Adrien Quatennens are part of his domination over his wife: the choice to talk about the children, to position himself as a victim of a family breakdown, these are attacks against her rather than a defense of himself. This is part of the strategy DARVO, the attack and the reversal of roles. »

While feminist activists asked for his resignationFrance Insoumise has chosen to suspend Adrien Quatennens for a period of four months and to condition his return on his participation in an awareness-raising course on violence against women.

He will therefore sit starting this week as not subscribed.

The pension reform, an essential topic at the beginning of the year, is also presented by the defenders of Adrien Quatennens, as a fight in which the deputy from the North is fundamental, a argument rightly debunked by feminist activist Mathilde Viot :

“He is no more brilliant than many other MPs who can defend what people want to withdraw. Worse still, he’ll hurt the fight, because as soon as he talks, he’ll be the man guilty of beating his wife and ultimately splitting his motion that he’ll talk. »

When the Renaissance asks for ineligibility

Another example of the tension surrounding the return of Adrien Quatennens is the speed with which the Renaissance group took possession of the subject, he notoriously less reactive when it came to taking action on allegations of sexist and sexual violence in his ranks .

“This return cannot be ignored.” It was Aurore Bergé, president of the Renaissance group, who reacted in particular to this return and there is no shortage of salt:

“Today we introduce a bill that complements the system we adopted in 2017 to create an additional penalty of ineligibility for those convicted of domestic or intra-family violence. »

For the Renaissance parliamentarians, Adrien Quatennens’ post is therefore no longer in the National Assembly and he wants to set a precedent. Surprisingly, since MP Benoit Simian, then labeled LREM, was banned in 2020 from going near the marital home as he was in the process of divorcing, and yet continued to harass his ex-spouse, the group has been made quieter and much less uncompromising. Targeted by an investigation, Benoit Simian had not seen his parliamentary immunity questioned, a request rejected by the office of the National Assembly. He ultimately received an eight-month suspended prison sentence in June 2022 and was not re-elected. Deafening silence also on the serious accusations against Damien Abad, briefly minister of Solidarity, still a deputy and in the crosshairs of an investigation for attempted rape.

Would the Renaissance group come forward only when its political opponents are perpetrators of sexist and sexual violence?

Photo credit: Capture