Unlike the legislative elections, the left-wing and ecologist coalition is struggling to develop a common strategy for the next battles.
Smiling faces under a colorful banner with the Greek letter Nu. A year ago, the leftist and environmentalist parties launched their legislative coalition, the Nupes, for New Popular, Ecological and Social Union, with great fanfare. If the recipe made it possible to form an intergroup of 150 deputies, at the end of the legislative elections of 2022, this union is now stumbling over the strategy to adopt for the next deadlines, while “phase 2” of the Nupes opens, in the words of the leader of La France insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Members of the formations making up the Nupes, meeting on Tuesday evening, thus noted their differences on the strategy to be adopted for the European elections, in a year. LFI pleads for a common list, but the members of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts are totally opposed to it, as expressed by the secretary general of EELV, Marine Tondelier, in the Sunday newspaper (JDD) (article for subscribers)April 30.
“Not honest to imagine a common list”
Between federalists and supporters of national sovereignty, between those who reject European treaties and those who accept them, there is no shortage of divisions. “Making a common list, when we have such differences on European subjects, would be lying to the French”estimates with franceinfo the ecologist MEP David Cormand. “Europe is undoubtedly the subject on which there are the most divisions between us”recognizes for his part the communist Ian Brossat. “At the PCF, it does not seem honest to us to imagine a common list for this election”said the elected Parisian, while referring to the national conference of the party, scheduled for the fall.
In addition, the voting system, proportional, with a threshold of 5% per list to obtain seats, changes the situation, explain the ecologists and the communists. Concretely, the union is less essential than in the legislative elections to hope to garner seats in the European Parliament.
On the LFI side, these arguments are difficult to pass. MP for Paris Danielle Obono lambasted on Twitter a choice “irresponsible” from EELV, which makes “Put a shopkeeper’s strategy before the general interest”. “The common list is both possible and necessary”answered MEP Manon Aubry on Tuesday to Marine Tondelier, on her blog. “How to explain to voters that we would not be able to establish a common program of action in 2024, but that we could in 2027 [lors de l’élection présidentielle] ?”, she asks herself. Manon Aubry increased the pressure on Wednesday by relaying on Twitter an Ifop poll for the Sunday newspaper (article for subscribers) published the same day, according to which 76% of left-wing sympathizers would like a single list.
The puzzle of a presidential primary
However, for David Cormand, the “rebellious” “continue to push for this unique list, knowing that it will not be done, to be able to say then that it is the others who divide the Nupes”. The leadership of the Socialist Party meanwhile said it was ready to discuss a common list, but the secretary general of the PS, Pierre Jouvet, seemed to take note of the divisions on Wednesday. “Let’s not pretend that if there was no common list for Europeans, it would be the end of the Nupes”did he declare on Radio J. In 2019, five lists presented themselves in the left and ecology camp, three of them winning a total of 25 seats out of the 74 allocated to France.
Will the next presidential election offer Nupes an opportunity to come together more easily? At first sight, the idea of a single candidacy has more consensus, mainly because each party acknowledges the impossibility of reaching the second round by starting divided. Only the communists do not seem very attracted by the idea, following the example of the communist deputy André Chassaigne who said to himself “not favorable, in the current state of the balance of power” to a single application, during a meeting with the Association of Parliamentary Journalists (AJP) Wednesday.
On the other hand, fractures appear on the method. Marine Tondelier offers in the Sunday newspaper to put in place in the coming weeks a “cooperative of goodwill which would play the role of a campaign committee” and would propose a method for designating a single candidate. With a primary? This is what defended, Tuesday on Public Senatethe socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj, who “see no other solution”.
“The primaries only gave electoral disasters”, sweeps the ecologist David Cormand. For once, the “rebellious” seem to agree with the Greens. “The primary will never have my consent”, affirmed in March Jean-Luc Mélenchon on France 3. The question which annoys is especially the possibility of a fourth candidature of the founder of the movement. An internal selection process would at least make it possible to frame the inclinations of the leader of LFI, which some members of the Nupes find too divisive.