While the New Popular Front has still not designated a potential Prime Minister with a view to victory in the legislative elections, Jean-Luc Mélenchon continues to present himself as a contender despite the reluctance of part of the left and Gabriel Attal in plays.
The essential
- One week before the first round of the legislative elections, the New Popular Front has still not designated a potential Prime Minister with a view to victory at the end of the polls. While the subject is debated, Jean-Luc Mélenchon once again expressed his desire to “govern the country”. Ambitions poorly received by a whole section of the left which believes that Jean-Luc Mélenchon “is not the solution”.
- Gabriel Attal is using this disagreement to try to fracture the New Popular Front alliance by calling on Jean-Luc Mélenchon to debate against him and Jordan Bardella during the confrontation scheduled for Tuesday June 25 on TF1. While Manuel Bompard must represent the left during the debate, the head of government pleads for an exchange between personalities wishing to claim Matignon.
- The New Popular Front spoke out against a “defamation campaign” concerning it to respond to accusations of anti-Semitism or ambiguity on the fight against anti-Semitism. LFI is particularly targeted by these accusations, but the four main parties signed a forgotten platform on June 22 promising “a plan to fight discrimination”.
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09:40 – Mélenchon’s ambitions caricatured
Press cartoonist Emmanuel Chaunu took hold of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s ambitions and the consequences they have on the New Popular Front and drew a parallel between the rebel’s exit on his desire to become Prime Minister and the declaration of the latter during the search of the LFI headquarters in October 20218: “The Republic is me!”. Faced with him, the left forces appear embarrassed, annoyed or tired.
09:05 – The New Popular Front must “win votes” before anything else
“We have never known the names of the Prime Ministers in advance, it is the president who calls. At one point, we have to keep reason” said the elected environmentalist candidate for re-election Sandrine Rousseau on LCI. While the New Popular Front is divided over the Jean-Luc Mélenchon case and over the appointment of a Prime Minister, the MP believes that the left alliance must already “win votes” to hope to have a majority in the Assembly national. But facing her, the RN candidate Andréa Kotarac believes on the contrary that “knowing who would be the Prime Minister of this Popular Front [est] extremely important” because according to him “there are inconsistencies in this program” taking the example of nuclear power plants.
08:49 – Laurent Berger refuses Matignon and disqualifies Mélenchon
The former secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, whose name was put forward as that of a contender for Matignon for the left by Raphaël Glucksmann, assured that he did not want Matignon on France 2, this Monday morning. He also said he regretted that the discussions focused on the appointment of a possible Prime Minister more than on the fight against the National Rally: “That’s not the subject, that’s what we’re dying of, we’re dying of death. personalization, we try to find the race of little hairs and the person who will arrive at the stable first. The subject is how we avoid the RN. The former trade unionist also disqualified Jean-Luc Mélenchon for Matignon: “It cannot be Jean-Luc Mélenchon. These stories must be stopped, he is rejected everywhere. He can say what he wants, he tries to dynamite everything. There are artisans of chaos everywhere.
08:31 – Attal wants to debate with Mélenchon rather than with Bompard
While Jean-Luc Mélenchon has relaunched the psychodrama on the appointment of a possible Prime Minister for the New Popular Front, the current tenant of Matignon is fueling the controversy. Gabriel Attal, who must participate in a debate against Jordan Bardella for the RN and Manuel Bompard for the Union of the Left, invited Jean-Luc Mélenchon to take the place of coordinator of LFI and to come and debate against him. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon reaffirmed his wish to be Prime Minister and lead the country. Under these conditions, he should come and debate with me as Jordan Bardella is doing. Rather than sending his spokesperson, Manuel Bompard” declared Gabriel Attal according to Figaro.
08:20 – “Jean-Luc Mélenchon is not the solution”
Jean-Luc Mélenchon recalled his “intention to govern the country” Saturday evening on the set of France 5, but his exit annoyed the ranks of the left alliance. If the rebellious leader’s desire to become Prime Minister is not a secret, it is far from being shared by elected officials on the left. On the contrary, many of them exclude Jean-Luc Mélenchon from the contenders for Matignon. The former presidential candidate “is not the solution” said former head of government Lionel Jospin on BFMTVthe dissident socialist candidate for the NFP in the legislative elections, Jérôme Guedj added on Franceinfo Sunday evening that Jean-Luc Mélenchon “is the problem, because today, he embodies this left which frightens part of the left electorate”.
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150 measures implemented over three successive periods. This is the guideline of the program of the New Popular Front, presented Friday June 14, 2024. LFI, EELV, the PS, the PCF have agreed on numerous commitments that they wish to implement if they obtain the majority in the National Assembly, on July 7, on the evening of the 2e round of legislative elections. This program would be implemented in three phases: first a series of decisions taken within 15 days after coming to power, then another within 100 days following the start of their governance and, finally, some during the following months.
It goes without saying that the New Popular Front has access to its main promises on purchasing power, which it intends to improve. For this, numerous increases will be decreed: that of the minimum wage to 1,600 euros net, that of the minimum contributory level to the level of the minimum wage, that of the minimum old age to the level of poverty only, that of the AAH to the level of the minimum wage, that of APL of 10%, while indexing salaries to inflation. At the same time, pension, unemployment and RSA reforms will be repealed.
Furthermore, faced with soaring energy bills (electricity, gas, fuel), the New Popular Front promises to remove the 10% tax on energy bills, to cancel the planned increase in the price of gas , to make the first KwH of electricity free and to put an end to electricity, heat and gas cuts.
Concerning Education, the left announces that it wants to repeal the “shock of knowledge” desired by Emmanuel Macron, preserve the educational freedom of teachers, work on total free schooling (Canteen, supplies, transport, extracurricular), but also reduce the number of students per class is 19, abolish Parcoursup, introduce meals for 1 euro at Crous.
Long awaited on the burning subject of international diplomacy, the left alliance revealed its position. On Ukraine, she wishes to maintain the delivery of arms and defend the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people, continue the seizure of the oligarchs’ assets in the banks and send peacekeepers, in particular to secure nuclear power plants.
As for the thorny subject of Israel and Gaza, the New Popular Front proposes to break with support for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister), and to enforce the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which evokes a risk of genocide. He also wishes to act for the release of hostages held since the massacres, described as “terrorist”, by Hamas, and for the release of Palestinian political prisoners. He promises to support the International Criminal Court in its prosecution of Hamas leaders and the Israeli government and calls for immediate recognition of the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel on the basis of UN resolutions, with the holding of elections in Palestine.
Who are the New Popular Front candidates?
The New Popular Front coalition brings together several left-wing parties including La France insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS), the French Communist Party (PCF) and Europe-Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV), in addition to allied parties . The agreement on the distribution of candidates across the territory plans to send rebellious candidates to 229 constituencies, socialists to 175 others, ecologists to 92 territories and communists to the remaining 50.
Each constituency will therefore only present one candidate for the left, regardless of the political party to which he belongs. The agreement concluded by the members of the New Popular Front gives the advantage to La France insoumise, which has more than 50 more constituencies compared to the Socialist Party. The distribution was made according to the results of previous legislative elections and the chances of each party to win in the different constituencies against other left-wing forces, but also and above all against the presidential majority, the right and the extreme right. Note that in many constituencies, it is the outgoing deputies who are reinvested.