Mélenchon’s rejection of the radical left makes it harder to build a united front against the far right in France | International

The doubts generated by the French Radical Left Insoumise (LFI), and in particular its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, are one of the main obstacles to uniting political forces in France beyond the left in a so-called “republican” front. This expression points to the siege of the remaining French structures on the extreme right. The reluctance towards a left-wing candidate is hindering the declared attempt of the majority forces…

The doubts posed by the French Radical Left Insoumise (LFI), and in particular its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, are one of the main obstacles to uniting political forces in France beyond the left in a so-called “republican” front. This expression points to the siege of the remaining French structures on the extreme right. The reluctance towards a left-wing candidate hinders the declared attempt of the majority forces to prevent the National Regroupment (RN) from winning the second round of the legislative elections on July 7, so that for the first time in French history an extreme right wing that emerged from the elections can form a government and appoint a prime minister. In the first round this Sunday, Marine Le Pen’s party obtained a third of the vote.

The ticking counter has already begun: parties have until 6:00 pm on Tuesday to present their candidacies for the second round on Sunday. Given the record number of triangular constituencies (constituencies in which more than two candidates have passed the first screening) of over 300, the key is in the calls withdrawal: Withdrawal of the third-placed candidate in regions where three go on to the second round, to concentrate the vote on the candidate with the best chance of defeating the RN representative the following Sunday.

The main talking point is in the camp of President Emmanuel Macron, who lost badly in the elections as his centrist coalition, which until now had a parliamentary majority, was left in third place with 20.83% of the vote. He has not been able to confirm any of the ministers who took part in the voting in the first round in the cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who will also have to go to a second round.

Macron sent a message to the RN on Sunday night calling for “a great clearly democratic and republican union” and, according to several media outlets, he has called a meeting with his ministers this Monday to decide which constituencies they can withdraw from. Meanwhile, several prominent members of Macronism have left Mélenchon’s LFI out of that last “republican” coalition, ignoring the call of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) bloc, which is in second place with 27.99% of the votes, to unite all possible forces against the RN and its allies, with a clear advantage with 33.15% of the votes.

The last was the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who repeated the slogan to vote this Monday, if there is no candidate of their own for the second round, “for the candidate of the social democratic camp”, but “no” for “rebellious France.” He declared on the France Inter network, “The LFI is a danger to the nation, just as the RN is a danger to the Republic.” Macronist figures such as former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, the outgoing President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Privat, or the Minister Delegate for Equality, Aurore Bergé, have spoken in a similar way in recent hours.

Meanwhile, the conservative party Los Républicains (LR) continues to refuse to give a slogan for next Sunday’s vote against the RN, following fears of its president, Eric Ciotti, who has aligned himself with the far right. “Taking into account that voters are free to choose, we will not give a national slogan and will let the French express themselves according to their conscience,” he said in a statement. Le Monde. This group got only 6.6% votes in the assembly elections.

Taking advantage of the division caused by Mélenchon, the RN candidate for prime minister, Jordan Bardella, has urged the French to support the far right next Sunday to guarantee a “responsible pause” in the face of the “existential threat to the nation of the French” which, in his opinion, is the left-wing coalition. Bardella has limited that coalition to the LFI, the party with the most weight.

In an “open letter” to the French, Bardella said this Monday that in Sunday’s second round, they have two options: either the RN or the “agents of chaos” of the NFP. A faction that he defines as “a coalition of the worst of the extreme left gathered behind Mélenchon.” In a further attempt to identify the entire left-wing coalition with the rebels, Bardella also said that he is “ready to debate” with the leader of the LFI.

Aware that Mélenchon’s personality creates divisions among its own voters – especially the most moderate ones – the New Popular Front has tried to leave the controversial rebel leader in the background throughout the campaign, who has not even participated in the two election debates so far. Nor did he speak on behalf of his formation (his right-hand man Manuel Bompard did) in the call for a “republican” front of all possible forces, which NFP leaders made on Sunday night in Paris’s prestigious Place de la République. Of course, Mélenchon took the microphone after everyone else had left to begin his speech in front of thousands of people who stayed in the center of the capital until after midnight.

The strategy of identifying the entire left coalition with Mélenchon seems to be working: FigaroThe traditional right-wing newspaper dedicates its cover to a large photo of Bardella and Mélenchon, accompanied by the entire NFP, exactly the image that the moderate left-wing parties have tried to avoid at the moment.

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