French left wins election gamble, but maintaining unity is difficult to moving forward

• Although President Emmanuel Macron’s majority is looking for allies on the moderate left to advance his reform agenda
• Forecasts indicated a hung parliament, with the leftist Nupes alliance obtaining 175 to 200 members, 
• As a result, Macron was on track to lose his absolute majority in the National Assembly.

Although President Emmanuel Macron’s majority is looking for allies on the moderate left to advance his reform agenda, keeping together will be an early challenge for France’s new left-wing alliance, which is poised to become the country’s largest opposition force in parliament.

Forecasts indicated a hung parliament, with the leftist Nupes alliance obtaining 175 to 200 members, nearly increasing the number of seats won by its united parties in 2017. As a result, Macron was on track to lose his absolute majority in the National Assembly.

Under the leadership of the eurosceptic far-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, the alliance unites the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party, the Greens, and Communists for the first time in 20 years.

It ran a campaign to raise the minimum wage, cut the retirement age from 62 to 60, and set a price cap on necessities. However, there are significant divisions inside the alliance that were ignored during the campaign but will be attacked by rivals. These divisions range from Europe to nuclear energy and policing.

Melenchon told his jubilant followers that the presidential party had been completely defeated and that no clear majority was in sight. “It is the moral failure of those who teach us as well as the failure of Macronism.”

One of his top lieutenants, Clementine Autain, claimed that the outcomes validated the left’s agenda.

She stated that the forces for social and ecological transformation were coming together as a result of a significant shift in society.

Beyond the triumphalism, the alliance’s viability is now in doubt. Melenchon’s LFI party will seek to lead the left in parliament after winning approximately 90 seats, a few less than predicted in polls.

It is not a given that the Socialists and Greens will support LFI when challenging the majority, though, given that they are able to form their own parliamentary parties.

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