Before the parliamentary elections in France, the country’s left-wing parties have agreed to form a common popular front, the so-called “Front populaire”. The parties want to pool their forces in this way. This will open a new chapter in the country’s history, they said in a joint statement on Thursday. “Now into the election campaign – to win!” wrote François Ruffin of La France Insoumise (LFI) on the short message service X.
In the first round of voting on June 30, the alliance, which includes the Greens, Socialists, Communists and Jean-Luc Melenchon’s left-wing party La France insoumise, plans to field only one candidate in each of the 577 constituencies. The agreement is another setback for President Emmanuel Macron, whose movement had made advances to the Socialists.
The new Popular Front forms a political counterweight to Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) at the other end of the political spectrum. The RN is ahead in polls, but is unlikely to gain an absolute majority. According to polls, the group of left-wing parties could form the second largest bloc behind Le Pen’s right-wing nationalist party.
The left-wing parties had already worked together in the 2022 parliamentary election campaign. However, a leadership dispute and political differences – including over the Gaza war – led to cracks in the alliance.
In response to his bloc’s crushing defeat in the European elections, Macron dissolved the National Assembly on Sunday and announced new elections in two rounds.