Alliance of the Left for the legislative elections: negotiations continue

Numerous leaders and organisations are calling for the new Left Front to be formed for the parliamentary elections. After the dissolution of the National Assembly and the calling of new elections, a potential alliance between the RN and LR is pushing the left to unite despite their differences.

From the NPA to the PS: an increasingly broad union, the ‘sacred union’

The union of the left, united under a new ‘Popular Front’, is rapidly broadening 48 hours after Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the National Assembly. Faced with the threat of a victory by a right united with the far right, more and more left-wing figures and organisations are backing the initiative launched by François Ruffin on Sunday evening.

“I say yes to the Popular Front that changes people’s lives through action. A Popular Front that is open and as broad as possible”, declared Carole Delga, PS president of the Occitanie region, following Éric Ciotti’s rallying to a union of the right led by Jordan Bardella’s RN.

‘400,000 signatories’ announced

A few hours later, Philippe Poutou and Olivier Besancenot’s Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste also joined the Popular Front. For this far-left party, ‘unity against fascism is a matter of urgency’.

In less than 48 hours, some fifteen left-wing organisations announced their support for the Popular Front’s call behind LFI, EELV, the PCF and the PS, including small parties such as the Union Démocratique Bretonne (UDB) and EH Bai in the Basque country.

Groups such as the Mouvement Républicain et Citoyen (MRC) founded by Jean-Pierre Chevènement and L’Engagement founded by Arnaud Montebourg are also ready to participate. In a press release, Montebourg expressed his desire to keep his distance from calls for political re-engagement from a variety of quarters. On Tuesday evening, François Ruffin claimed to have ‘400,000 signatories’ for the call for a union of the left on the platform he launched at the start of the week.

Single candidates in each constituency?

However, behind the scenes, not everything has yet been decided. An agreement in principle was reached on Monday evening, but negotiations on the programme, the list of candidates and the distribution of constituencies are continuing. A key question is whether to put forward a single candidate in each constituency, including those where the RN is non-existent.

In Paris, the Paris en commun movement, which is close to Anne Hidalgo, has announced its intention to put forward candidates in ‘all the Parisian constituencies’. “There is no risk of the RN running for parliament in Paris. Let the voters choose”, summed up Senator Bernard Jomier on social networks.

The fate of outgoing MPs

What will happen to the outgoing MPs? Will Adrien Quatennens, convicted of domestic violence in 2022, be a union candidate? Sandrine Rousseau said on BFMTV that she wanted to ‘discuss’ her potential nomination in the 1st constituency of Nord.

Candidates can submit their applications from this Wednesday until 6pm on Sunday 16 June. However, the Front Populaire could wait until the deadline to declare its candidacy in certain areas.

The great danger of the far right

The programme remains a subject of divergence among the 20 political groupings, and these differences will persist after the second round of general elections on 7 July. “If we don’t unite, if we don’t succeed in creating this People’s Front, the great danger is that the far right will take over.

‘I’ve been critical of Mélenchon’, said the PCF leader, insisting that the Popular Front of 2024 is not the Nupes of 2022. This time, the trade unions and several other left-wing organisations are involved.

The PCF National Secretary emphasised the objective: ‘We are staging a Popular Front like in 1936. Our aim is to win the major social gains our country needs”.