On the left, the question of union comes up every season. Or rather, at each electoral deadline. The next legislative elections are no exception to the rule. Divided for the Elysée, the various parties are currently in discussions to present common candidates on Sunday June 12 and 19, in what is presented by some as a “third round” of the presidential. Time is running out: the various parties have agreed until the end of April.
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For this election, “all political forces, weakened, have an objective interest in the rally”, explains political scientist Rémi Lefebvre, one of the 800 academics who called in early April to vote for Jean-Luc Mélenchon. First there is La France insoumise (LFI), which came out well ahead on the left in the first round of the presidential election on April 10. With 22% of the vote, the movement embodied by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who asked voters to “elect him prime minister”, seeks to transform the trial in June and to enlarge a parliamentary group of 17 deputies today. By avoiding the multiplication of candidates on the left, LFI wants to succeed in bringing together in a maximum of constituencies 12.5% of those registered in the first round, the threshold set to be able to remain in the second round.
Among the “Rebellious”, officially, the tone has changed compared to 2017, when they had swept away any agreement with their potential allies. “I don’t want to weaken the Socialist Party, I want to replace it”, said Jean-Luc Mélenchon at the time. This year, members of LFI and the Socialist Party (PS) have been negotiating since Wednesday 27 April.
“You must not be naive, La France insoumise wants the destruction of the other left-wing parties.”
Remi Lefebvreat franceinfo
To lead the union, rebellious France has set its conditions for the PS, as for other potential allies such as Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV), the French Communist Party (PCF) and the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA). Thus, LFI demands to take as a basis “The Future in common”, its presidential program. “There are essential points, such as retirement at 60, price freezes, the Sixth Republic, ecological planning”explained Sunday Manuel Bompard, at the helm of the negotiations on the rebellious side.
Before talking about the division of ridings and a common banner, “we first have things to sweep on the bottom”observes a socialist negotiator with franceinfo. The “disagreements” relate in particular to pensions but, following an initial meeting “positive”Wednesday morning, La France insoumise assured that there was “no insurmountable points” between the two parties.
The Communists have different positions on the question of nuclear energy, which they advocate. But they are keen on these negotiations. As of Sunday, Fabien Roussel called for a “global agreement” for the legislative ones. Monday, on franceinfo, his campaign manager, Ian Brossat, deplored the fact that the negotiations “last” without success.
With the ecologists, deprived of outgoing deputies, the divergences of points of view are not lacking either. During a press conference on Wednesday April 27, the EELV leaders regretted the fact that the negotiations were blocked on disobedience to European directives. Will the two parties be able to come to an agreement? “We have the feeling that LFI is returning to reflexes which are those of 2017, hegemonic reflexes”estimates Alain Coulombel, member of the direction of the ecologist party.
At EELV, disagreements are also internal. On the one hand, Yannick Jadot excludes lining up “rear” the rebellious leader in a coalition who, under these conditions, “won’t work”. On the other, Sandrine Rousseau, beaten by Yannick Jadot in the environmental primary, believes with Mediapart that“there is a leader in this team, whose name is Mélenchon”. The party leadership wants to avoid the simple “People’s Union” banner for the legislative elections.
Ecologists propose 2 names for the creation of a common label for #legislative2022 for the left:
1️⃣ Popular Ecologist Union
2️⃣ Popular Ecologist and Social Front@franceinfo— Hugo Capelli (@Hugo_Capelli) April 27, 2022
The internal quarrels of environmentalists irritate LFI, which will present its candidates on Saturday May 7. “It’s not the subject for us to settle internal congress debates. We must move forward!” railed the LFI parliamentary group in a press release on Tuesday. At the same time, the Génération.s party, founded by Benoît Hamon and an ally of EELV, continues to negotiate daily with LFI.
The question of the union of the left also divides the socialists. Hélène Geoffroy, close to François Hollande, believes thus that “it is not a negotiation or an agreement that is proposed” by La France insoumise, but “a surrender”, she laments in a letter published on Tuesday. Later in the dayon the sidelines of the National Bureau, several of the members of the PS decided to resign, highlighting their opposition to negotiations with the “Rebellious”.
The leadership of the Socialist Party sees these negotiations rather as a way of keeping part of its parliamentary group of 27 deputies, survivors of the Berezina of 2017. “We have a base of leavers, which is not nothing, attempts to reassure a PS executive. If we don’t touch it, it’s a good sign.” “The PS does not have much to put in the balance”replies the political scientist Rémi Lefebvre.
With 1.7% of the presidential vote for Anne Hidalgo, the socialists are in danger at the national level. They could bear the brunt of LFI’s desire to present candidates in constituencies favorable to the left, whether there are PS outgoing deputies or not.
“When you’re at 6% or 7%, you can still ask for things, not when you’re at 1% or 2%”.
A PS senatorat franceinfo
This question of nominations is central, insofar as having parliamentarians is an essential source of funding for parties. Parties whose candidates win at least 1% of the vote in at least 50 constituencies receive 1.42 euros per voter each year. Then, each deputy brings 37,280 euros per year to his party.
Under these conditions, can the union of the left, impossible for five years, succeed in a few days? Above all, can it lead to a victory for these joint forces on June 19? In the legislative elections, the left could face two other poles also gathered. With, on the one hand, the outgoing majority bringing together members of LR and disappointed PS. On the other, a far-right bloc with the National Rally, Reconquest! and Stand up France. The victory of the left, and therefore cohabitation, therefore remains an unlikely hypothesis. “No one believes itsweeps away Rémi Lefebvre, but it is a mobilization strategy”. Will it be enough to federate the left in this spring of 2022?