The leftist alliance secured a surprise victory in France’s snap elections, which Macron called after the far right’s triumph in the European elections in June. Despite finishing first, however, the New Popular Front fell far short of an absolute majority.
The French Greens, the Communists and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed movement all called on their supporters to join the protests. The Socialist Party is the only one of the alliance’s four main members that chose not to participate.
At the head of the Parisian procession, Melenchon spoke passionately, declaring that “the French people are in rebellion. They have entered into revolution.” “There will be no pause, no truce. I call you to a long-term battle,” he added.
All four left-wing forces within the New Popular Front, which control 193 of the 577 seats in the French National Assembly, have announced plans to vote for a motion of no confidence against Barnier’s government.
Barnier, a former European commissioner and Brexit negotiator, is not a member of a pro-Macron party but of the conservative Les Républicains, which netted less than 7 percent of the vote in the first round of the French snap elections.
While Barnier can count on support from pro-Macron forces and from Les Républicains, the durability of his government will likely depend on the far-right National Rally’s tacit support.
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