MELENCHON. If he did not run for deputy, Jean-Luc Mélenchon expects a lot from the result of these legislative elections. Will Nupes win the election, allowing its leader to claim the post of Prime Minister?
[Mis à jour le 9 juin 2022 à 10h50] Last straight line for MPs and their political parties! The first round of legislative elections takes place this Sunday. For Nupès, now the third French political force since the 21.95% of votes collected by Jean-Luc Mélenchon during the first round of the presidential election, the stakes are high. The left-wing parties united in this popular union intend to obtain a parliamentary majority to influence the policies of the government, and, above all, to allow their leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, to become Prime Minister. This objective, he revealed it the day after the presidential election, in a solemn declaration made on the set of BFMTV. A surprising request, since the head of government is not elected but appointed by the President of the Republic, as indicated in Article 8 of the Constitution. However, the ambition of Jean-Luc Mélenchon is not impossible. Because, article 49 of the Constitution tells us, in a particular case, the Head of State may be forced to choose a Prime Minister from the opposing camp: if an opposition party wins a majority in the legislative elections.
Can Jean-Luc Mélenchon hope for this scenario? In any case, that is exactly what he has been working on since between the two rounds. And the first stage of this enterprise was to bring together the left: mission accomplished for rebellious France, since in a few weeks, Europe Ecology the Greens, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party signed an ambitious agreement with it. This New Popular Ecological and Social Union, by presenting unique candidates in each constituency, could well do a good job during these legislative elections. From there to win a majority in the Assembly? Not so obvious.
Because if some polls announce the Nupes at the head of the voting intentions of the 1st round of the legislative elections, obtaining an absolute majority is not obvious. On the other hand, the possibility of obtaining a relative majority is emerging in a credible manner. In this case, the government has the largest group in the National Assembly, without reaching the threshold of 289 deputies. Consequently, the executive could be hampered in the application of its program, because the number of opposition deputies would be greater than that of the majority. So, for each bill, an alliance would be required, which could lead to a situation of political paralysis. But at Nupès, the project gets stuck a little: despite the agreements between the main parties, it faces dissenting left candidates, especially among the Socialists, who could well capture a few percentages. The union therefore promises a great operation for the left-wing parties, but from there to obtaining a majority which would allow Jean-Luc Mélenchon to claim the post of Prime Minister… it does not look easy.
Is Jean-Luc Mélenchon a legislative candidate?
The head of rebellious France has chosen not to stand in these legislative elections. Outgoing MP for Marseille (4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône), he has chosen his successor: Manuel Bompard, the director of his presidential campaign, who is running in his place. In this constituency, Jean-Luc Mélenchon came out on top in the first round of the presidential election, winning more than 54% of the vote. The latter explained his choice not to run for the 2022 legislative elections: thus, he can participate in the Nupes campaign throughout the territory.
What is the program of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Nupes?
The four main parties that make up the alliance have agreed on more than 650 common programmatic proposals. This program has as its base that of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the Popular Union for the 2022 presidential election, entitled The common future. Among the common proposals of the Nupes, we find the increase of the Smic to 1500€, the reduction of the legal age of retirement to 60 years, the establishment of an “ecological planning”, or the creation of an “autonomy allowance” for young people. The program of the Nupes also indicates the points of divergence existing between the various formations, “which will be put to the wisdom of the Assembly”.
How did Jean-Luc Mélenchon score in the 2022 presidential election?
Jean-Luc Mélenchon took 3rd place in the 1st round of the 2022 presidential election. With 21.95% of the votes cast, he failed 1.2 points behind Marine Le Pen and the second round. He thus improved his result compared to the 1st round of 2017, where he came in 4th position behind François Fillon, with 19.58% of the vote. It was Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s 3rd presidential election: in 2012, he had already come 4th in the 1st round, but with only 11.1% of the vote, far behind François Hollande (28.63).