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Nouveau Front Populaire left-wing alliance vows 'total break' with Macron policies if it wins snap election [1]
['Le Monde With Afp']
Date: 2024-06-14
Marine Tondelier, leader of the Green party, speaks during a press conference of the Nouveau Front Populaire alliance of left-wing parties. STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS
The Nouveau Front Populaire alliance of the left said on Friday, June 14, that it would break from President Emmanuel Macron's policies if it wins snap elections that could see the far right make major gains in Parliament. With the Rassemblement National (RN) expected to rack up dozens more seats and Macron's camp bleeding support, "it's going to be either the far right, or us," said Greens party leader Marine Tondelier, who joined the Socialists, the Communists and the radical left party La France Insoumise, along with a few minor parties, to form this new left-wing alliance.
After four days of intense negotiations, leaders said late on Thursday they had agreed on an election alliance called the New Popular Front. On Friday, they unveiled a joint manifesto, whose headline measures included jettisoning Macron's controversial immigration and pension reforms if they win the polls.
Read more Subscribers only The four days that led to the Nouveau Front Populaire left-wing alliance
The Nouveau Front Populaire pledged to "unfailingly defend the sovereignty and freedom of the Ukrainian people" and to provide Kyiv with arms deliveries. The coalition also proposed sending peacekeepers to secure nuclear power plants in Ukraine.
Leaders said at a press conference that their first moves would include raising the minimum wage to €1,600 per month, creating a wealth tax that would help fund climate policies, and make all school-related expenses, such as transport and food, free. They promised to "rise to the climate challenge" – without agreeing on whether to go ahead with modernizing France's fleet of nuclear plants.
The name of the alliance is a nod to the Popular Front, a political alliance founded in France in 1936 to combat fascism.
Unclear who would be PM
Earlier on Friday, Raphaël Glucksmann, the Socialists' lead candidate in the recent European elections, threw his weight behind the coalition – despite remaining differences between its parties – saying it was the "only way" to prevent a far-right victory. Glucksmann accused Macron of plunging France "into chaos."
"We can't leave France to the Le Pen family," 44-year-old Glucksmann, who led the Socialist-backed list in the European elections, told broadcaster France Inter. "Since Sunday night, I've had a knot in my stomach," he said.
Read more Subscribers only French left agrees to form new 'Popular Front' in parliamentary elections
It remained unclear who would lead the Nouveau Front Populaire and become prime minister in case of victory. Glucksmann ruled out the LFI's abrasive leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, saying: "We need someone who can achieve consensus."
François Hollande, the Socialist former president, also pronounced himself in favor of the new union, saying the left forces had "got beyond our differences."
Macron on Sunday stunned France by calling snap legislative elections for June 30, with a second round on July 7, after Le Pen's RN scored more than double the number of votes of his alliance in last week's European elections.
Read more Subscribers only Why Macron decided to call snap elections
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[1] Url:
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