Presidential election 2027: LFI activists launch an "alliance" in working-class neighborhoods to combat abstention

Several activists and elected officials from La France insoumise have launched in Saint-Denis an "Alliance of the number 10s from working-class neighborhoods", with the stated objective of reducing abstention and mobilizing more voters for the 2027 presidential election. The LFI mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, is among the initiators of this new structure.

The choice of "number 10" alludes to football and the figure of the playmaker, responsible for initiating a collective dynamic. For Carlos Martens Billongo, the LFI (La France Insoumise) deputy for Val-d'Oise, the challenge is to understand the "disenchantment" of a segment of the population with politics. He believes that an increase of "five" to "ten points in voter turnout" could allow LFI to "win the election" and defeat the far right.

Bally Bagayoko is the subject of a PNF investigation

This initiative comes as Bally Bagayoko is the subject of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office for "embezzlement of public funds, receiving stolen goods, and bribery," opened following a complaint by the AC!! Anti-Corruption association. The investigation aims to determine, in particular, the circumstances under which the elected official was able to hold multiple positions while remaining an employee of the RATP (Parisian public transport operator). At this stage, no guilt has been established, and Bally Bagayoko remains presumed innocent.

The issue of his income had already drawn criticism several years earlier. His declaration of interests showed approximately €112,769 in annual income for the period 2011-2014, primarily from the RATP (Paris public transport operator), the Seine-Saint-Denis departmental council, and the city of Saint-Denis. In 2018, the communist elected official Philippe Caro denounced a situation he deemed "ethical and morally" problematic, while acknowledging that he had no evidence establishing any illegality.

With this new “alliance”, the elected representatives of La France Insoumise now want to concentrate their efforts on the districts where abstention remains particularly high, considering the mobilization of this electorate as one of the keys to the 2027 presidential election.