PARIS (AP) — Leaders of France’s left-wing parties allied in a new coalition and outlined their plan on Friday to prevent the surging far right from taking power in upcoming snap national parliamentary elections.
Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally is also seeking allies to boost its chances of becoming the first far-right force to lead the French government since the Nazi occupation. Embattled President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called the alliances on both left and right ‘’crazy’’ and incoherent.
While differences between them remain, the leaders of the usually fractious French left-wing parties emphasized that all of them had compromised during four days of negotiations and aligned their views on issues such as the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict to prevent a victory by Le Pen’s camp.
Various parties on the left, unions and antiracism groups are also coming together Saturday to hold protests in Paris and across the country against the far right.
The early legislative vote June 30 and July 7 was triggered by Macron’s decision on Sunday to dissolve the National Assembly. France’s lower house of parliament, after his centrist party suffered a crushing defeat by the National Rally in the election for the European Parliament.
The far right is “at the door of power,” leaders of the leftist alliance, named the New Popular Front, warned at a news conference. They urged supporters to mobilize rather than despair, show up and cast their ballots, instead of staying behind, resigned that the outcome of the “historic election” had already been determined in favor of a party with a history of racism and xenophobia.
Over 50 countries go to the polls in 2024
“We are going to extinguish the flame of the National Rally,” said Marine Tondelier, the national secretary of the Ecologists party. “It’s either us or them.”
Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally, attended an event at a farm in the rural French village of Chuelles, emphasizing the party’s commitment to agricultural issues and rural voters. He highlighted the National Rally’s plans to support French farmers and protect their interests against globalization and EU regulations.
In addition to the environmentalist parties, the New Popular Front alliance, named after a similar coalition formed in the 1930s against the rise of fascism in France,…