Cecilia GONDARD

Vice international secretary, Parti Socialiste (France)

When President Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the French National Assembly, he chose the shortest timeline allowed by the French constitution. This was meant to make it impossible for all left-wing and green parties, which had just fought against each other in European elections, to rally together. But in five days, they built the ‘New Popular Front’ – a reference to the 1936 Popular Front. They decided on who would run in which constituency, agreed on a common programme with strong social and ecological priorities, that would end seven years of Macron’s conservative-liberal policies. And on Sunday, the second round of general elections, with the highest turnout in four decades, brought a surprise: the left wing came first in the general elections.

The left-wing coalition, the ‘New Popular Front’ (Nouveau Front Populaire) , was named after the 1936 ‘Front Populaire’, a left-wing coalition formed for the 1936 legislative elections around the Radical Party, the French Section of the Workers’ International (SFIO) and the Communist Party. With a majority of seats, it formed four governments between June 1936 and April 1938 – in times of political instability and the rise of the extreme right in Europe. The first of these governments was led by the socialist Léon Blum, the next two by the radical Camille Chautemps, and the short-lived last one by Léon Blum again. The Communists supported them but did not participate.

The New Popular Front appeared in a quite similar context, where right-wing extremists are already in government in several countries in Europe and the extreme right Rassemblement National had just scored first in European elections. The dissolution was announced a few minutes after the EU elections results had been published, and Macron’s party had been defeated. While it managed to eclipse these humiliating results, the campaign did not save the presidential party, which scored second in the general elections.

On Sunday 7 July, the New Popular Front defied polls and political experts and won the most seats in France’s National Assembly (182), thus beating back a far-right surge but failing to win an outright majority. While the presidential party had already failed to get an absolute majority in 2022, and had been ruling with a minority government since then, they have now come in only second, with 168 seats. The extreme-right Rassemblement National came third, with 143 seats, and the conservative ‘Republicans’ scores only at 46, stuck between liberal and populist right-wing parties.

This is definitely a stress test for democracy and for Macron’s ability to respect French voters’ democratic voice. 

Having the French president and prime minister coming from opposing political parties, is called, in French, a cohabitation. In the history of the French Fifth Republic, there have been three cohabitations. But this is the first time for Macron. In the French presidential system, the president proposes the prime minister. He, however, has to follow the electoral outcome. Following the general elections, he should, therefore, appoint a prime minister from the New Popular Front. 

But he has not yet. Not only did he decide to refuse Attal government’s resignation on Monday 8 July, on the pretext of ‘ensuring the stability of the country’, but he also has allowed ministers to retain all their prerogatives. By doing so, The French president broke with the tradition of having a resigning government manage day-to-day matters after a majority change in parliament. Instead, the government is back to its business as usual: the economy minister announced on 11 July urther budget cuts of 5 billion euros, and further reforms are expected to come.

This was a stress test for Macron’s democratic values – and he failed. The outcome of the elections leaves France with the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and a risk of political paralysis in one of the biggest European member states and Olympic host country. But after the threat overwhelming threat of an extreme-right government, it was the left-wing New Popular Front who has avoided it. It is now time for Macron to respect French democratic tradition and propose a prime minister who belongs to the first political movement in France, the New Popular Front. This prime minister will then have to enhance dialogue with the different parliamentary groups and negotiate a coalition around the New Front Populaire. But Macron’s refusal to launch this democratic process is paralysing French democracy. Olivier Faure, the leader of the French Pocialist Party, called once again for the president of the Republic to acknowledge his rand respect the voters’ will. 

After seven years of Macron’s authoritarian ruling, bypassing the National Assembly (23 ‘49.3 procedures’ in 18 months under Elisabeth Borne’s government), it is time to come back to real democratic parliamentary debate. It is time to launch a national congress with employers and trade unions. It is time to listen again to citizens and civil society. And that’s exactly at the heart of the New Popular Front’s priorities.

Photos Credits: Shutterstock.com/AntoninAlbert