Cracks are appearing in France’s leftist opposition coalition NUPES, as the various groups and parties constituting the parliamentary left question whether to be part of an opposition that is as loud as it is radical.
On Thursday, La France Insoumise, the party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, tabled the fourth no-confidence vote in a fortnight against President Emmanuel Macron’s government. But the other parties in the left-wing coalition refused to sign it after also refusing to sign the one voted on Monday.
French government escapes no-confidence motions amid budget talks
The French government has escaped two motions of censure the opposition tabled against the executive’s move to pass the budget bill without an assembly vote, as the opposition is still not united in bringing the government down.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, Mélenchon attacked “internal adversaries” in the NUPES, including the socialist party (PS) faction of former president François Hollande, as well as the green party EELV of Yannick Jadot, and the leader of the communist party, Fabien Roussel.
Mélenchon also sought to justify the LFI’s strategy as the main opposition to President Macron’s government.
The First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, argued that it was “unwise to trivialise the use of the no-confidence motion, which must retain its exceptional character to maintain its symbolic force”.
An hour later, Faure voted in favour of LFI’s text that was supposed to bring down the government. However, twelve deputies out of 31 PS lawmakers refused to take part in the vote.
Communist leader Fabien Roussel and five other members of his group also did not vote in favour of the no-confidence motion, as well as four Greens out of 23, allowing the government to win the vote comfortably.
The LFI motion obtained only 218 votes in favour, compared to 239 for the previous motions supported by the whole of the left bloc.
“Under cover of ‘refusing the RN votes, ‘ they end up supporting Macron’s government without daring to say it, preventing its fall”, complained Mélenchon.
A poll by the Elabe institute, unveiled in early October, has indicated that a majority of French people want the opposition parties to take a constructive approach towards the government, which does not have a parliamentary majority, and are critical of the tactics used by Mélenchon’s party.
Some 35% of those surveyed think that Marine Le Pen and her party, the National Rally (RN), “best embody the opposition to Emmanuel Macron”, more than Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the NUPES (29%).
French left march against Macron’s policies
Tens of thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday, protesting the cost of living, demanding more environmental and social justice, and criticising the government’s policies.
The march organised by the left-wing coalition (NUPES) in Paris on Sunday, intended to be …
In a survey for the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) published on Wednesday (2 November) by Ifop institute, support for Mélenchon has dropped 4.5 percentage points – from 21.5% in April 2022 to 17% – in voting intentions if the election were held today.
Conversely, Le Pen gained 6.5 points – from 23.5% to 30% – ahead of Emmanuel Macron, whose numbers have increased from 27.8% to 29%.
The ‘radicality’ paradox of the French Greens
The left-wing alliance NUPES, which finished neck-and-neck with President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble! in the first parliamentary election round, has reinforced the view that French Greens are too radical to govern. The reality, however, is much more nuanced.
[Edited by Alice Taylor/Benjamin Fox]
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Source: euractiv.com
