The French legislative campaign is causing a stir in French-speaking Switzerland. In a joint statement, all left-wing political parties expressed their support for the New Popular Front on Tuesday, with the aim of blocking “the rise of the extreme right in European political dynamics”.
In a text published Tuesday, the various Swiss left-wing parties show their support for the alliance of the French New Popular Front (NFP), which brings together parties ranging from the anti-capitalist left of Philippe Poutou to the liberal center-left of François Hollande.
Hailing this unity, they call on French people in Switzerland and border regions to vote for the NFP candidates. “In France as elsewhere: let’s block the way of the extreme right!”, they say in the title of their joint press release.
>> See the 7:30 p.m. report on the union of the French left:
“Urgency of the French situation”
Like the French Alliance, the appeal originally launched by the SolidaritéS party is broad: among the signatories, we find the major political parties of the traditional left such as the Socialist Party or the Greens, more left-wing parties such as the Swiss Labour Party (POP-PST), but also more radical organizations such as décroissance alternatives (da), Solidarité & Ecologie (SE) and Union Populaire (UP).
“The union of the entire left around a common appeal is, to our knowledge, something new. This shows how important these elections are,” underlines Colin Vollmer, spokesperson for the Swiss PS. “It’s quite exceptional, like the situation we are experiencing,” adds Térence Durig, political secretary of Solidarity Vaud.
“There was not much debate in the exchanges between the parties, and it is quite reassuring to see that all the signatories very quickly responded positively, which demonstrates the urgency of the French situation,” continues -he.
“Giving wings” to right-wing extremists in Switzerland
“The far right has always posed a direct threat to democracy, to equal rights and to social gains,” the parties wrote in their press release. Furthermore, “it takes no account of the climate crisis.” This situation requires “a response that is commensurate,” they continued, also believing that these French legislative elections will have “a crucial impact on political dynamics” in Europe.
According to Solidarity, they could have repercussions in Switzerland. “At the political level, having a far-right government in France would contribute to accentuating and legitimizing racist, sexist, xenophobic and climate-denialist policies in Switzerland and in Europe,” observes Térence Durig.
Moreover, in terms of public opinion, it would be “the culmination of the normalization of discriminatory discourses and policies” which could “give wings to organizations, small groups or individuals finding themselves in this deadly ideology in Switzerland”, he continues. , citing as an example the recent attack on Feminist Strike demonstrators by neo-Nazis in Lausanne.
>> Listen on this topic:
Increase in the minimum wage, abandonment of pension reform
In France, certain candidates or commentators have denounced differences between the different parties brought together within the NFP. But on the grassroots side, “the overwhelming majority of the feedback we receive supports” this alliance, notes Colin Vollmer.
In their appeal, the signatories welcome “a common program of rupture with the neoliberal policies of Macronism”, citing in particular measures “which could be implemented in the first months of the legislature, such as the increase in the minimum wage [le salaire minimum français, ndlr] to 1600 euros, the repeal of the pension reform, the establishment of a fairer tax system, the indexation of salaries to inflation and the freezing of the prices of basic necessities”.
Added to this are “a series of measures to combat all forms of discrimination and proposals to deal with the ecological emergency”, they continue. In their eyes, “the New Popular Front thus constitutes the only truly democratic electoral bulwark” against the far right as well as an “ecological, anti-racist and united alternative in the face of the record of the outgoing majority” which has “contributed directly to the progress of the National Rally”.
>> See also the interview with Halima Delimi, NFP candidate for the French in Switzerland:
Pierre Jordan
