The French left has put aside its divisions on Ukraine or the Middle East to present a “rupture” program to the legislative elections on Friday. She wants to prevent the far right from coming to power, which promises a government of “national unity”.
After the rout of the presidential camp in the European elections and the dissolution of the Assembly decided by Emmanuel Macron, the main left-wing parties met on Friday in Paris to celebrate a hard-won union and detail their road map in the event of success in the legislative elections of June 30 and July 7.
Hastily formed against the National Rally (RN, far right) after its triumph in the European elections, the “New Popular Front” promises in particular to increase the minimum wage, to reverse the very unpopular pension reform, and to restore the wealth tax.
International compromise
The result of tense negotiations, its common program also outlines a compromise on international issues which divided the left and exploded its previous coalition.
On the Middle East, he thus calls “to act for the release of hostages held since the Hamas terrorist massacres (…) and for the release of Palestinian political prisoners”.
The main force on the left, the La France Insoumise party (LFI, radical left) has so far refused to assimilate Palestinian Hamas to a terrorist movement, breaking with the position of France and the European Union.
On the war in Ukraine, another point of tension, the coalition is committed to “unwaveringly defending the sovereignty and freedom of the Ukrainian people” and to ensuring “necessary” arms deliveries to kyiv.
Controversy surrounding Jean-Luc Mélenchon
However, there remains the debate on the identity of the person who, on the left, could become Prime Minister.
Arriving in the lead on the left in the European elections, Social Democratic MEP Raphaël Glucksmann called on Friday to reject the hypothesis of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a tribune of the radical left accused in particular of ambiguous positions on anti-Semitism.
The former LFI presidential candidate recently created controversy by asserting that anti-Semitism was “residual” in France despite official figures showing an outbreak of anti-Jewish acts.
In its common program, the New Popular Front affirms on the contrary that “racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic acts (…) are experiencing a worrying, unprecedented explosion”.
The RN wants to broaden its support
On the far right, expected to be Prime Minister in the event of victory, the president of the RN Jordan Bardella on Friday made this united left “his main adversary” in the legislative elections, while the Macronist camp is left behind in the polls.
Credited with more than 30% of voting intentions, the RN is seeking to broaden its support in order to gain power for the first time in its history. Its leader, Marine Le Pen, promised Friday that the party would form “a government of national unity” to “get France out of the rut” and announced “a certain number of surprises on Sunday”, the deadline for submitting proposals. applications.
The party, heir to the National Front co-founded in 1972 by a Waffen-SS, however, continues to worry part of the country.
Second most followed YouTuber in France with 19 million subscribers, Squeezie warned against “a drastic rise of the extreme right” and mobilizations against the RN are planned this weekend in the country, at the call unions.
Several thousand demonstrators in Montpellier (south) and nearly 2,000 in Lyon (south-east) marched Friday evening against the far right, kicking off this long weekend of demonstrations.
Legal action
On the political level, his party has recently garnered several rallies including that of Eric Ciotti, president of the main right-wing party, Les Républicains (LR), plunged into a deep crisis.
For having allied with the RN, Mr. Ciotti was excluded by his party’s authorities, but the Paris judicial court invalidated his exclusion from the presidency of the Republicans on Friday.
Faced with this accelerated political recomposition, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal denounced “boutique agreements” on the right and the left.
From Bari, Italy, where he is participating in the G7 summit, Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that he hopes that the approach of the Paris Olympics (July 26-August 11) will dissuade the French from choosing leaders “not ready” to ensure the organization of the event. Mr. Bardella responded to him on X by affirming that he would not “modify” the “system” of the Olympics if he led the future government.
The uncertainty in the country is in any case worrying the markets: The Paris Stock Exchange signed its worst week since March 2022 (-6.23%) and erased its gains for the year.
ats, afp
