France's left-wing parties agree on legislative alliance
France's left-wing parties have formed a historic agreement to create a new union ahead of the June legislative elections.
The agreement was confirmed overnight by a Socialist Party internal vote in favour of joining the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) along with the Green Party and the Communist Party in a coalition.
The four left-wing parties will campaign together in a New People's Ecological and Social Union and will not run candidates against each other in the elections for the lower house of parliament on 12 and 19 June.
They aim to win a majority of seats in an effort to counter President Emmanuel Macron.
"The result of the legislative elections is very uncertain," said Paul Bacot, an emeritus professor at Sciences Po Lyon.
"Will Insoumis (far-left) voters vote for socialist candidates, and vice versa? Will the dynamic of the union mobilise additional voters, or will the absence of candidates from the various components of the left lead to massive abstention?"
Bacot said the results of the presidential election may end up being very different for the legislative parties.
The negotiations between the parties were driven by LFI's candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came third in the first round of the presidential elections on April 10, just shy of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen who faced Macron in the second round.
The other left-wing parties received under 5% of the vote, with the formerly dominant Socialist Party obtaining a historic low of under 2% of the vote.
While Macron was re-elected with 58% of the vote, many left-wing voters told Euronews they were disappointed with the president's policies and faced a difficult choice between voting or abstaining in the second round.
LFI and the Socialists said
Read more on euronews.com
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