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Truthout: France Just Showed the Secret to Beating the Far Right - a United Left
France’s centrists had to ally with a powerful left coalition to halt the far right’s fiercest challenge yet.
Truthout link: https://truthout.org/articles/france-just-showed-the-secret-to-beating-the-far-right-a-united-left/
The overwhelming mood in France, following Sunday’s election, was one of relief. In the Place de la République in Paris, a crowd of New Popular Front or Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) voters — young, clutching Palestinians flags — cheered in delight at the unexpected news. The newspaper Le Monde compared the atmosphere in poor and immigrant districts of Paris to the “thrill of victory in a World Cup final.” Pundits, opinion-formers and business leaders had all predicted a victory for the far right National Rally or Rassemblement National (RN). The assumption of such a triumph was universal — until the people spoke.
In the French parliamentary political system, the prime minister forms a government. To stay in power, it must maintain a majority in the National Assembly. For six months, polls forecasted that the RN would win the election, securing the most votes and most seats. As it happened, the National Rally failed to even come in second, leaving the election with just 143 seats out of 577 in France’s National Assembly, far short of the support it needs to govern.
The main two blocs in the National Assembly after the election will be the left-wing New Popular Front alliance with 182 seats and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance, which won 163 seats.
The left coalition won after its constituent parties agreed to ally against the threat of an RN victory. The Socialists, Communists, Greens and France Unbowed signed on to a joint program including recognition of Palestine, control of food prices and bold environmental policies. The New Popular Front has grown during the election campaign — with new members joining its constituent parties, and vast crowds attending anti-RN rallies. France Unbowed, the furthest left party in the alliance, ran with the strategy that the people least likely to vote (the young and members of racialized minorities) were also potentially left-wing voters. Volunteers leafleted the high-rise apartments in which many Black and Arab voters and other working-class people live. Trade union federations set up regional election campaigning networks. Footballers Lilian Thuram and Kylian Mbappe let it be known that they supported the campaign against Le Pen. Turnout in the election was the highest in 40 years, and the NFP won a landslide victory among voters aged under 24.
- more at link -
In the French parliamentary political system, the prime minister forms a government. To stay in power, it must maintain a majority in the National Assembly. For six months, polls forecasted that the RN would win the election, securing the most votes and most seats. As it happened, the National Rally failed to even come in second, leaving the election with just 143 seats out of 577 in France’s National Assembly, far short of the support it needs to govern.
The main two blocs in the National Assembly after the election will be the left-wing New Popular Front alliance with 182 seats and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance, which won 163 seats.
The left coalition won after its constituent parties agreed to ally against the threat of an RN victory. The Socialists, Communists, Greens and France Unbowed signed on to a joint program including recognition of Palestine, control of food prices and bold environmental policies. The New Popular Front has grown during the election campaign — with new members joining its constituent parties, and vast crowds attending anti-RN rallies. France Unbowed, the furthest left party in the alliance, ran with the strategy that the people least likely to vote (the young and members of racialized minorities) were also potentially left-wing voters. Volunteers leafleted the high-rise apartments in which many Black and Arab voters and other working-class people live. Trade union federations set up regional election campaigning networks. Footballers Lilian Thuram and Kylian Mbappe let it be known that they supported the campaign against Le Pen. Turnout in the election was the highest in 40 years, and the NFP won a landslide victory among voters aged under 24.
I must admit I hadn't been paying much attention to the election in France, but this Truthout story is quite interesting. It seems like a generational surge, with the youngest and first-time voters making their voices heard. Once again the professional pollsters BLEW it famously!
There's something to be learned here for us Democrats. And President Macron has made it clear that he doesn't want to see Chump back in the White House.
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Young progressives like AOC can make a difference and crystallize the 20-somethings into voting and caring about this election. Also I think PBO (who is no longer young) still has a lot of pull with the minorities and non-conservatives. There's no point in wasting time on conservatives because they're a lost cause anyway.
As long as we can solidify the Democratic regulars with the anti-Chump vote as well as the independent liberal-minded voters of America, Chump has no chance of winning.
