France’s political landscape is changing – once again. A week after the presidential election, a new left-wing alliance emerged. On the night of Monday, the currently largest forces – La France Insoumise (LFI) by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the Greens (Europe Écologie-Les Verts, EELV) – announced an agreement after several days of negotiations. Both parties will stand together in the general elections in June, with the goal of opposing the re-elected liberal President Emmanuel Macron with a left-wing majority.
Macron would then be forced, like Jacques Chirac (1997-2002) to a “cohabitation” with an opposition head of government. Negotiations with the Parti socialiste (PS) and the communists are still ongoing.
The agreement expressly states that Mélenchon should become prime minister. The 70-year-old had done surprisingly well in the first round of the presidential election and only just missed out on the run-off with around 22 percent. From this position of strength, he can now dictate the terms to his partners.
On the one hand, working together is worthwhile for everyone involved. Because of the majority voting system, smaller parties have little chance of winning mandates on their own. In an alliance with LFI, the Greens have now secured 100 of the 570 constituencies. On the other hand, LFI’s partners run the risk of losing their identity through too many compromises.
The new alliance is a list association, not a party
In the presidential election campaign, the attempt to unite the fragmented left failed, so that around a dozen candidates entered the race. The Greens under Yannick Jadot got a very disappointing result of 4.6 percent, while the Socialists with Anne Hidalgo (1.7) experienced a catastrophe and even ended up behind the Communists (2.3).
The new alliance is a list association, not a party; with the name “New ecological and social people’s union” it offers at least conceptually an umbrella for all participants. Specifically, the LFI and the Greens agreed to increase the minimum wage and lower the retirement age to 60. The prices for the most important foods should be capped and the economy and way of life should be ecologically oriented (including phasing out nuclear power). In addition, there is a reform of the political system with its overpowered president and weak parliament.
The most sensitive point, however, is the attitude towards Europe. Mélenchon’s slogan of “disobedience” to European regulations and treaties had particularly deterred the more pragmatic-green Jadot and many of his fellow campaigners. Added to this are Mélenchon’s frequently expressed understanding of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, his aversion to the USA and NATO and his warnings of German supremacy in Europe.
The agreement now states that one must be prepared not to follow “certain European rules”, in particular the stability pact, competition law or parts of the common agricultural policy. That this must be done “in respect of the rule of law”, as is added, criticized a Green MEP on Monday as a contradiction. For the French Greens, however, what counts most is the passage according to which they intend “neither to leave the EU nor its dissolution or the end of the euro”.
Ex-President Hollande sees the “history of socialism” in danger
This does not reassure many socialists. Hidalgo refuses to cooperate with Mélenchon; Ex-President François Hollande warns that his own party, which has so far been quite pro-Europe, will “disappear” if the current state of negotiations with LFI stays the same – the “entire history of socialism” will be called into question as a result. However, the PS chairman Olivier Faure will probably prevail, who sees the only way out for his weakened and disoriented party to lean on the stronger partner. At the May Day demonstration in Paris, he anticipated this solution by shaking hands with Mélenchon.