SIf, barely a week ago, the leaders of the left were told that they would be relieved to have the support of François Hollande, they would not have believed it. However, it was the former President of the Republic who allowed La France insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS), the French Communist Party (PCF) and Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) to bring the last brick to the union of the left, after four days of intense negotiations. These four parties have, in fact, concluded an agreement for the early legislative elections of June 30 and July 7.
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The New Popular Front, as it is called, will present unique candidates with the aim of thwarting the predictions which present the National Rally (RN) as the big favorite. “I don’t know the details. [de l’accord], but for me, what is essential is that the union was able to take place. I have differences that we know about, but there is a moment when we go beyond the differences, we get to the point”, insisted the former socialist head of state, Thursday June 13, on TF1. And to call for withdrawal in favor of “any candidate who is not far-right”.
Friday morning, it was Raphaël Glucksmann, head of the Place publique-Socialist Party list, who came first on the left during the European elections on June 9 (13.8% of the vote), who declared his support for the New Popular Front. “The only thing that matters to me is that the National Rally does not win these legislative elections and does not govern this country. (…) The only way to do this is for there to be a union of the left”affirmed Mr. Glucksmann on France Inter.
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The validation of the union of the left by MM. Hollande and Glucksmann did not go without saying. The two men are very critical of La France insoumise and its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The converse is true. How to explain this final rallying? First of all, by a left-wing survival reflex which dates back to the aftermath of the far-right riots of February 6, 1934 and the creation, under pressure from the militant base, of the Popular Front, which won the elections in 1936. The fight against the extreme right is the cement of the left, the fight behind which unity is not questioned. “The fight against the extreme right is not a tactical positioning for us, it is something visceral”, explains Sandra Regol, former EELV deputy for Bas-Rhin. Moreover, François Hollande said it on Thursday evening: “Fighting the far right is the fight of my life. »
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