The French left vows a “complete break” with Macron’s policies

France’s left formed a united front on Friday, promising a “complete break” with President Emmanuel Macron’s policies if he wins historic polls that could propel the far right to significant gains in parliament.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, also addressing voters, announced the formation of a “government of national unity” if her party takes power in early legislative elections.

Macron stunned France on Sunday by calling elections after Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) polled more than twice as much as his centrist alliance in last week’s European elections.

Left-wing groups, including the far-left France Unbowed (LFI), the Socialist, Communist and Green parties, formed an electoral alliance called the New Popular Front on Thursday.

On Friday, they presented a joint manifesto whose main measures were to reject Macron’s controversial reforms on immigration and pensions if they win the polls, which are scheduled to start on June 30, with a second round taking place on July 7.

They also promised to “take up the climate challenge” – without agreeing on whether to continue modernizing France’s nuclear power plant fleet – and maintain support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

“It will either be the far right or us,” Green Party leader Marine Tondelier told reporters.

The coalition gained the support of leading left-wing politician Raphael Glucksmann (44), who led the list supported by socialists in the European elections.

“We cannot leave France to the Le Pen family,” he told broadcaster France Inter.

The alliance’s name is a nod to the Popular Front, a political alliance founded in France in 1936 to combat fascism.

Polls suggest Le Pen’s party will massively increase its presence in parliament from its current 88 of 577 seats.

In 2011, she took over the National Front – founded in 1972 by a former SS member – from her father, changing its name and running for president three times.

– “Hate and discrimination” –

It was unclear who, if victorious, would lead the New People’s Front and become prime minister.

Glucksmann excluded LFI abrasives leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Francois Hollande, a former socialist president, also supported the new union, saying left-wing forces “have gone beyond our differences.”

Hitting the campaign trail in Pas-de-Calais in northern France, Le Pen claimed the RN could win the election and form a “government of national unity”.

“We need to get France out of its rut,” said the 55-year-old, who will run for the fourth time in the 2027 presidential elections, adding that the country is in a “catastrophic situation.”

The far right suffered one setback on Friday in the form of an Instagram post by one of France’s leading YouTubers, Squeezie – the pseudonym of 28-year-old Lucas Hauchard.

“I never wanted to talk about politics with you,” he told his nearly nine million Instagram followers.

“However, I believe that strong opposition to extremist ideology preaching hatred and discrimination goes beyond any political position,” he added in a post that was liked by almost 900,000 people within hours.

– “Deeply wrong” –

Other right-wing forces plunged into internal fighting.

Eric Ciotti, the leader of the conservative Republicans, broke a historical taboo this week by announcing that his party would form an electoral alliance with RN.

The rest of the party leadership immediately expelled him, confirming the decision in a second vote on Friday, according to party sources.

Ciotti insists he remains chairman and is challenging his removal in court. The court’s ruling was expected on Friday evening.

The 28-year-old chairman of the Supervisory Board, Jordan Bardella, said the far-right party and the Republicans would field joint candidates in 70 of France’s 577 parliamentary districts, hailing what he described as a “historic agreement.”

Macron remained defiant, defending his decision to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

Speaking at the G7 summit in southern Italy on Thursday, he said his G7 counterparts praised his move.

“Everyone said, ‘That’s brave,'” Macron told reporters.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused Macron on Thursday of seeking to score points with the country’s voters, saying that using the G7 summit for a “campaign” was “deeply wrong.”

As for the economy, the French stock exchange recorded its worst week since March 2022 and the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the CAC 40 index fell by 6.23% between the announcement of the elections and Friday’s close of quotations.

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