The founder of the far-left party La France Insoumise (France Without Bows) said he has a clear mandate to govern, following the surprise electoral success of the left-wing alliance he formed for France’s parliamentary elections on Sunday.
“The president has a duty to call on the New Popular Front to govern,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon he said after the first forecasts were published on Sunday evening, showing his alliance at the top.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of the President Emmanuel MacronHe demanded that the party’s centrist camp leave.
Macron should admit defeat, Mélenchon said, while ruling out negotiations on a merger with Macron’s camp.
According to initial forecasts, the NFP is doing surprisingly well after the second round of the French parliamentary elections.
The far-right Rassemblement National fell to third place after topping the polls in the first round, and now trails the centrist camp of President Emmanuel Macron. No camp is likely to win an absolute majority of 289 seats.
France’s divided left united only a few weeks ago to form the NFP for the parliamentary elections. There is a division within the left, particularly over Mélenchon’s leadership.
The populist, who stands out for his Eurosceptic statements and is clearly pro-Palestinian, has even received a lot of criticism within his own party.
The left alliance of leftists, communists, socialists and greens has no clear leadership. And no common program either.