In October 2023, the coalition's future was put in doubt when the Socialist Party voted a "moratorium" on its participation to the NUPES alliance following LFI leadership's refusal to qualifyHamas as a terrorist organization in the context of theGaza war.[18]
In October 2021, shortly before the2022 French presidential election,Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the initiator of the coalition,[6][7] launched the People's Union.[19] In December 2021, he announced the creation of a Parliament of the People's Union, which aimed to bring together personalities from outsideLa France Insoumise (LFI) in order to support its candidacy.[20]
In the context of the2022 French legislative election, LFI, the largest left-wing force in the presidential election, sought to unite the main left-wing parties around the banner of the New People's Ecological and Social Union.[21] Discussions were held with theEurope Ecology – The Greens (EELV) and theFrench Communist Party (PCF), which joined the coalition on 2–3 May 2022, respectively, while theSocialist Party (PS), after having reached an agreement to join the coalition on 4 May, voted to do so in its National Council on 5 May.[22][23] After that, theNew Anticapitalist Party (NPA) announced it would not enter the coalition due to insurmountable ideological differences with the PS;[24][25][26] it also said it would support the coalition's candidates that belonged to the radical left-wing.[27] TheRepublican and Socialist Left (GRS) said it would negotiate its entry into the union.[28][29]
Two groupings of smaller left-wing parties reached out to the coalition seeking to start negotiations: theFederation of the Republican Left, composed of GRS along with theCitizen and Republican Movement, Engagement, Left Radicals, and the New Socialist Left, and the Social and Ecologist Rally, composed of Allons Enfants, Democratic and Social Left, Liberté Ecologie Fraternité,New Deal, and Together on Our Territories.[30][31] Failing to do so, the GRS and its allies announced its intention to run 100 candidates.[32] On 20 May, New Deal announced that it was withdrawing its candidates and endorsing NUPES candidates around the country.[33]
With the aim of a coalition agreement, EELV proposed changing the name People's Union to Popular and Ecologist Union, or People's Ecologist and Social Front.[34] Shortly before 2 May, an agreement was concluded with EELV, under the common banner of the New Ecological and Social People's Union.[35] The agreement provided for 100constituencies out of 577 for the environmental bloc. EELV wanted the centers of the cities won in the2020 French municipal elections. It obtainedBordeaux,Strasbourg, andLyon, as well as the3rd,5th,8th, and9th constituencies ofParis.[36] On 3 May, the PCF announced that it would join the coalition.[37] In its press release, the party said it would want to form a majority with its allies and that the PCF and LFI share "common pragmatic objectives".[38]
The PS initially ruled out talks with LFI, before joining the talks on 27 April; the talks were again suspended on 29 April.[39][40] The PS leaderOlivier Faure negotiated with LFI in its headquarters on 2 May.[39] A day later,Manuel Bompard, the negotiator for LFI, said that negotiations between the parties had been "difficult on merits and on the constituencies".[41] On 4 May, the PS came to an agreement in principle with the coalition,[42][43] subject to a vote by the party's national council the next day.[44][45][46] The national council ratified the agreement on 5 May.[22][23][47] After the PS was admitted, the NPA announced that it would not formally join the coalition but said it would support more radical left-wing NUPES candidates.[27]
In the first round of the2022 French legislative election, NUPES finished either second (per theMinistry of the Interior) or first (perLe Monde), slightly behind or ahead of Ensemble (25.75%–25.66% per the Ministry of the Interior and 26.1%–25.9% perLe Monde).[48] This was because some NUPES candidates had not had their affiliation registered by the Ministry of Interior,[49] which French media took in consideration.[50] Four LFI candidates were elected in the first round, the most of any party or coalition, and 386 NUPES candidates qualified for the second round;[51][52][53] of the over 70 dissident candidates, 15 qualified for the second round.[9]
After the second round, NUPES was forecast to win 149 seats,[54] resulting in ahung parliament and the loss of an absolutemajority for Macron's Ensemble.[55] As NUPES was only an electoral agreement and each party is expected to form its ownparliamentary group, it did not become the largestparliamentary opposition group.[56] As with the first round, several news outlets, such asLe Monde, gave a different result as to the final seat count, with NUPES on 142 rather than 131 due to differences as to candidates, particularly in the French overseas constituencies, being classified as members of these alliances or not.[57]
Depending on the method of calculation, NUPES won either 131 seats (according to theMinistry of the Interior) or 142 (according toLe Monde),[b] enough to deny Macron'sEnsemble Citoyens coalition aparliamentary majority and to form the formalopposition in Parliament. The coalition performed worse than most polls between the first and second round indicated, and the far-rightNational Rally (RN) gained 89 seats, its best result ever.[17]
Fabien Roussel, leader of thePCF, said of the results: "[NUPES] didn't allow us to have a majority, and it didn't prevent the far right from making strong progress either, and that calls out to me, that questions me ... I can see that the alliance only speaks to part of France, to that of the big cities, and not to that of rurality." He also praised the alliance for having led theFrench Left to win far more seats than in the2017 French legislative election.[58]
The day after the election, LFI'sJean-Luc Mélenchon said the results were "disappointing" and called for a united NUPES parliamentary group, as no individual party in NUPES exceeded the 89 seats won by the RN, and official opposition could fall to the RN if NUPES was unable to form a larger parliamentary group.[59] The leaders of EELV, PCF, and PS announced that they were opposed to a unified group in parliament.[60] Mélenchon said that he would not take part in talks with Macron for government, while leaders of two NUPES parties, the PS leaderOlivier Faure and the PCF's Roussel, stated that they would do so.[61] LFI requested avote of no confidence to be held on 5 July,[62] but did not pass with only NUPES voting for it.[63]
Despite the formation of separate groups in the National Assembly, NUPES voted as a bloc to electÉric Coquerel of LFI President of theFinance Committee, defeating candidates from RN andThe Republicans. The post of President of the Finance Committee traditionally goes to the largest opposition group in parliament.[64][65]
In the 2022 election inCharente's 1st constituency, NUPES candidateRené Pilato lost topresidential majority incumbentThomas Mesnier by 24 votes. The election was deemed invalid in December 2022 due to irregularities.[66] A by-election was held in January 2023, which led to Pilato winning by slightly under 500 votes over Mesnier, a gain for NUPES at the expense of the presidential majority.[67]
In September 2022, French newspaperLe Canard enchaîné published an article revealing thatAdrien Quatennens, national co-ordinator ofLFI and MP had been accused ofdomestic violence by his wife.[68] Following this revelation, an investigation was opened by theLille police.[69] In a press release Quatennens admitted to having slapped his wife once, before backtracking and describing a multitude of events of "extreme mutual tension" that led to him grabbing her wrist, elbowing her or sending excessive amounts of text messages. Following these revelations, he resigned from his post as LFI co-ordinator but remained an MP.[70] On the 26th of September, Quatennens' wife officially pressed charges.[71] This caused large amounts of tension within the NUPES with a lot of criticism being directed towards LFI, particularly because other sexual misconduct allegations had been directed towardsÉric Coquerel andTaha Bouhafs [fr] earlier in the year, with the latter not even being able to stand in the legislative election.[72][73]
Many within the NUPES perceived LFI's inability to deal with the Quatennens Affair as a political fault, notablyEELV MPSandrine Rousseau. Furthermore, political analysts and commentators saw LFI's decision to maintain Quatennens as an MP as the movement turning its back on militants and younger generations.[74] An open letter published inLe Monde in December 2022, and signed by over one thousand militants and LFI supporters demanded the resignation of Quatennens and his withdrawal from politics.[75]
After pleading guilty to the charges against him,[76] Quatennens was convicted to four months of prison with surcharge and a 2000 euro fine.[77] Following this, he was excluded from theLFI-NUPES parliamentary group and sat as a non-inscrit until his reintegration into the group in April 2023, with the decision to welcome him back into the group sparking debate throughout both the NUPES and the LFI group itself.[78]
Simultaneously, alongside the Quattennens Affair, a similar case erupted involvingEELV national secretaryJulien Bayou. In July 2022, it was reported to the EELV internal cell for violence and sexual harassment that Bayou had been carrying out behaviour of "psychological violence and harassment" towards women in his entourage.[79] On the 20th of September, in the midst of the Quatennens Affair, Bayou resigned from his post as co-president of the EELV parliamentary group and from his position as EELV national secretary.[80] According to French magazineMarianne, this came as a result of internal pressure from prominent EELV memberSandrine Rousseau.[81]
Following Bayou's resignation, he has stayed relatively quiet in the media, though he remains an MP and continues to sit with the EELV parliamentary group at theNational Assembly. Following the 2022 EELV party congress,Marine Tondelier was elected national secretary with 90.8% of votes.[82]
Many journalists and political commentators saw the large of number of allegations directed towards NUPES members as discrediting the political union.[83]
As early as September 2022, tensions began to arise between the NUPES and Communist Party national secretaryFabien Roussel,[84] with many left-wing commentators seeing Roussel as too "right-wing" with some newspapers calling him "the right's favourite communist."[85] Further tensions arose in 2023 after Roussel calledMinister of the InteriorGérald Darmanin a friend and stated that they have "known [each other] for a long time."[86] This came after weeks of extreme violence between protestors and police in the wake of the2023 pension reform.[87]
More tensions arose in April 2023 after Roussel called the NUPES an "outdated" electoral coalition that "had failed." He also expressed his desires to extend the coalition notably to former SocialistPrime MinisterBernard Cazeneuve, an ardent critic of the NUPES.[88] This led to disagreements within the Communist Party, notably with MPsSébastien Jumel andPierre Dharréville.[89] These statements were also met with criticism from LFI who issued a press-statement directed at Roussel. During a speech at the 2023 Communist Party congress, where he was re-elected with 80.4% of votes,[90] Roussel replied to LFI and NUPES saying "I say it clearly and in fraternity, mind your own business!"[91]
Socialist infighting and election of Martine Froger
In January 2023, the Socialist Party held its 80th congress inMarseille.Olivier Faure, incumbent first secretary was re-elected with 51.09% of the vote.[92] Nonetheless, both Faure and challenger,Rouen mayorNicolas Mayer-Rossignol would each claim that they had won,[93] making it unclear who the true winner was for a couple of days. In the end, a collective leadership agreement was agreed upon and Mayer-Rossignol was appointed delegate national secretary.[94]
On 27 January 2023, theConstitutional Council of France ruled the re-election of LFI MPBénédicte Taurine as unconstitutional as a result of contentious ballots from theRN candidate, triggering aby-election.[97] Despite the national direction of the Socialist Party offering their support to Taurine, the local federation alongside theRadical Party of the Left chose to support dissident Socialist candidateMartine Froger.[98] Both candidates made it to the second round of voting, and Froger benefited from the support of theRenaissance and RN candidates who called to "make barrage" against Taurine. Furthermore, former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve joined Froger in the constituency, offering her his support.[99] Froger was elected with 60.2% of the vote and was congratulated in person by Mayer-Rossignol and Carol Delga, against the wishes of both the NUPES and the Socialist Party leadership.[100] To date no sanctions have been taken against Mayer-Rossignol and other members of the Socialist Party.
Once elected, Froger caused further tension within the NUPES with the question of her seating in theSocialist Parliamentary Group posing a problem for some, with many not seeing it fit that she sit within the NUPES intergroup. Some suggested that she sit with the centristLIOT group alongside other dissident socialists.[101]
In the aftermath ofHamas'sattack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequentGaza war, the Socialist Party voted 54%–46% for a "moratorium" on participating in the alliance due to LFI's refusal to explicitly denounce Hamas as a terrorist organization. The result of the vote was announced on 18 October 2023.[18] Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure reiterated his support for a broad union of the French left, but called Jean-Luc Mélenchon an "obstacle to unity." Mélenchon posted onTwitter that Faure had led the suspension of the Socialist Party due to "personal reasons" between the two.
A number of candidates, mostly from the PS, announced their intention to stand for election even against a NUPES-backed candidate.Xavier Perrin, a PS candidate inLoire-Atlantique's 8th constituency, said he would remain a candidate againstMatthias Tavel of La France Insoumise and NUPES.[173] The four PS candidates inDordogne also announced they would remain in the campaign despite the appointment of non-PS NUPES candidates in their constituencies.[174]Michèle Picard, the PCF candidate inRhône's 14th constituency, declared that she would continue her candidacy despite the appointment of another NUPES candidate, Taha Bouhafs.[175] After a PS dissident entered the same race, Bouhafs withdrew, and Picard hoped to become the official NUPES candidate.[176] Picard eventually withdrew from the race and supported the alternative LFI candidate.[177]Lamia El Aaraje, the PS incumbent inParis's 15th constituency, also announced that she was proceeding with her candidacy despite the appointment of NUPES candidateDanielle Simonnet.[178] PS incumbentSylvie Tolmont stood inSarthe's 4th constituency.[179]
As of 10 June, there were six EELV dissident candidates, 62 PS dissident candidates—including two PS dissidents in the same constituency—and 11 PCF dissident candidates running against NUPES-endorsed candidates. There were also four LFI dissidents running against NUPES candidates, including incumbentMuriel Ressiguier.[180] Overall, the dissident candidates, especially from the PS, performed poorly in the first round of the election; only 15 dissident candidates, of the over 70 running, qualified for the second round, mainly from rural constituencies and overseas.[9]
Patrick Mennucci, member of the PS minority currentDebout socialiste and an opponent of the NUPES accord, said that the result proved that "if the PS had led its game out of NUPES, it would have had at least as many deputies, and perhaps more voters, those who could not bring themselves to vote [LFI]. All this, without being in the hands of LFI." Despite criticism of Mélenchon on the evening of the first round, Delga announced her support for NUPES candidates in second-round elections where dissident candidates were not present.[9] In response to Delga, Narassiguin said the result of the first round marked "the failure of those who had campaigned on the theme 'NUPES is not my left'. They are seen as dividers."Philippe Doucet [arz;fr], a NUPES opponent within the PS, said that "the dynamics of [NUPES] are strong", that dissidents "did not play much", and the legislative elections "have become totally presidential". He added that he feared the second round would become an "anti-Mélenchon referendum", which in his view would harm PS candidates.[181]
The coalition has been characterised asleftist.[182][183][184] The participants share several proposals, including the increase in the minimum wage after tax to €1,500 per month, the return to retirement at 60, the freezing of the prices of basic necessities, ecological development, and the establishment of aSixth Republic (France being in its Fifth Republic).[185] The coalition aims to obtain a majority in theNational Assembly in order to imposecohabitation on PresidentEmmanuel Macron and to haveJean-Luc Mélenchon appointed as prime minister.[10][16][186] Some PS members regarded participation in the European Union as a "red line" and a compromise was reached, with the coalition embracing a "common goal" of changing the European Union from a "liberal and productivist" project to one "in the service of ... ecology and solidarity".[187]
Members of the coalition have pledged to jointly support 95% of the programme's proposals once in the parliament, while for the remaining 5%, particularly on the nuclear issue, they are given independence.[188][189] 170 economists signed a letter in support of the union's economic programme.[190][191][192]
While theFrench Left hailed the negotiations as historic, it was not without criticism for the coalition's perceivedEuroscepticism and an alleged break from theThird Way positions of thepresidency of François Hollande.Libération criticised the coalition for its perceived Euroscepticism, calling such positions "a historical mistake" and arguing that "the Left must proclaim loud and clear its commitment to the European Union".[193]L'Humanité praised the coalition as "a historical rally".[194]
According to an Elabe survey commissioned byBFM TV, 84% of left-leaning people supported NUPES.[195] A number of French economists, such asJulia Cagé,Bernard Friot, andThomas Piketty, also reacted favorably to the union and its economic programme, and published a column in support onLe Journal du Dimanche.[196]
André Laignel, the vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France, claimed that the traditionalcentre-left parties (PS and EELV) represent greater local support than their results in the 2022 presidential election showed. He encouraged a union between the PS and other forces of the left, stating that "it is clear that if the left is not united, it is going to be defeated".[204] 2007 presidential candidateSégolène Royal said she supported NUPES, acknowledging LFI's hegemony on the left;[205] she criticised the disunity of the left at the time of the presidential election, arguing that it was a "lack of responsibility", and called for atactical vote for Mélenchon.[206]Stéphane Troussel, the PS president of theDepartmental Council of Seine-Saint-Denis, condemned disunity and called for the PS to join NUPES; he said that not finding an agreement would be a mistake. 1995 presidential candidateLionel Jospin said he supported NUPES, but wished the nomination in the15th arrondissement of Paris to go to the outgoing PS deputyLamia El Aaraje.[207]
Journalist andPlace Publique politicianRaphaël Glucksmann announced his support for NUPES, arguing that he wanted to avoid a majority of PresidentEmmanuel Macron'sLa République En Marche! (LREM), which formedEnsemble Citoyens, and of theNational Rally (RN). While noting the disagreements with LFI, he said he would do "everything so that the maximum number of solidarity, humanist, and environmentalist voices can be heard from this summer in the Assembly".[208]New Deal withdrew all of its candidates and declared its support for NUPES.[209]
According toLe Monde, disapproval and dissension to join NUPES have represented a minority in the PS, and are due to political figures from previous currents of the party, in particular those close to Hollande, commonly called the "Elephants of the Socialist Party";[201] centrist dissent was driven by regional success against LFI and primarily represented byCarole Delga, the president ofOccitania, andAnne Hidalgo, the PS mayor ofParis and2022 presidential candidate.[210] The press often called the opponents to the agreement the "new slingers",[211] an expression taken up byStéphane Le Foll, who stated that if the PS "continues to be what it is today, I will leave".[212] He said that he does not believe in a victory for NUPES at the 2022 French legislative election; for him, it is "a fable, ... a decoy", claiming that by negotiating with LFI, the PS is "turning its back on its entire history".[213]
At the start of negotiations with the PS, François Hollande evoked the risk of the erasure of the PS, saying that the agreement was not acceptable and that it "calls into question the very principles which are the foundations of socialist commitment".[214] Mélenchon responded by saying that "while the train of history is passing, he remains at the track". Hollande called any union of the PS and LFI "unacceptable",[215] leading Mélenchon to call Hollande a "total has-been".[216] Speaking to Hollande on a TV plateau, TV hostPatrick Cohen [eo;fr] contested Holland's claims, reminding him that the PS's historical positions, underFrançois Mitterrand andLionel Jospin, were always marked by a line of rupture and challenge to the European treaties, stating that NUPES does not "break with the tradition of the PS... but turns its back onFrançois Hollande's five-year term".[217]
Approximately 1.000 members of the Socialist Party called for Olivier Faure to end negotiations.[218] Anne Hidalgo lobbied against the union and called for a union excluding Mélenchon.[219] Former prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced his resignation from the party on 3 May 2022 due to the negotiations.[220] In the wake of the PS joining the union, Carole Delga claimed that she would support "independent socialists" who ran against non-PS NUPES candidates. As part of the NUPES accord, the PS received six seats out of the 49 in Occitania, which Delga believed was not a "fair representation" for the party in the region.[221]
In an open letter,Guillaume Lacroix of the centristRadical Party of the Left announced that it would not join the coalition, while denouncing the negotiations, claiming that this event marked "the death of the social-democratic left".[222] TheMovement of Progressives, formerly part of theEcologist Pole, was also opposed to the agreement, stating: "negotiating with FI constitute an intolerable betrayal by irresponsible apparatchiks".[223]
The far-leftistNew Anticapitalist Party reacted negatively to the PS's potential inclusion in the union, stating that it does not believe the PS is a force of social change;[224] the party failed to negotiate an agreement with NUPES and ran its own candidates separately, whilst supporting the union's more left leaning candidates.[27] Opposition also came from theTrotskyist partyLutte Ouvrière, which announced that the party would run its own candidates separate from NUPES, and accused the union ofreformism.[224]
François Bayrou commented that this agreement was "an extremely sad event", citing the pact's perceived Euroscepticism, which according to him would lead to "the end of Europe", and Mélenchon's desire to leaveNATO. LREM deputies, in particularAurore Bergé andSacha Houlié, were critical of NUPES.[225] LREM members seek to discredit NUPES by highlighting the heterogeneity of their ideological positions. While hoping that LFI could serve as a foil forpro-European voters who could then mobilize for LREM, they regretted the union, considering its "undeniable power in the first round", and recalled that they had benefited from the left's disunity in certain constituencies in the2017 French legislative election.[226]Stanislas Guerini, general delegate ofRenaissance andEnsemble Citoyens of thepresidential majority, made an appeal to PS members opposed to the union, asking them to "join us".[227]
After the first round, having criticized Mélenchon for calling on voters not to vote forMarine Le Pen (instead of a full-endorsement of Macron) in the2022 French presidential election, thepresidential majority faced a choice in votes between left-wing and far-right candidates. Party officials said they would decide on a "case-by-case basis".[228]Élisabeth Borne,Prime Minister of France, said: "Our position is not a single vote for the RN". At the same time, she expressed support only for NUPES candidates who, according to her, respect republican values.[229][230]
^This discrepancy is becauseLe Monde counts deputies elected from overseas territories that were backed by NUPES but not formally part of the coalition as NUPES members, while the Ministry of the Interior only counts deputies elected from formal members of the coalition.
^Ce Sera NUPES lists PS candidate Angélique Sussini as the NUPES candidate; she is not listed on NUPES's official list of candidates.
^Ce Sera NUPES lists PS candidate Ghislaine Salmat as the NUPES candidate; she is not listed on NUPES's official list of candidates.
^Ce Sera NUPES lists LFI candidate Dominqiue Mauny as the NUPES candidate; she is not listed on NUPES's official list of candidates.
^Ce Sera NUPES lists former PS candidate Brigitte Sassou as the NUPES candidate; she has withdrawn her candidacy and was never invested by NUPES, as with the other Corsican constituencies.
^Candidate qualified for the second round, but withdrew their candidacy before the second round.
^abThis candidate was elected after their second-round opponent withdrew.
^abcdNUPES did not invest a candidate in this constituency.
^abcNUPES did not invest a candidate in any of Guadeloupe's constituencies.
^Élie Califer, candidate for thePlural Left elected in the first round, claims to be a member of NUPES but was not listed on any official lists of NUPES candidates.
^abNUPES did not invest a candidate in either of French Guiana's constituencies.
^abNUPES did not invest a candidate in either of New Caledonia's constituencies.
^abBloch, Michel (9 June 2022)."Législatives : voici les quatre scénarios possibles au soir du second tour".Le Journal du dimanche (in French). Retrieved13 June 2022.C'est sans aucun doute les élections législatives les plus indécises depuis l'instauration du quinquennat et l'inversion du calendrier électoral en 2002. Le premier tour de la présidentielle a révélé la présence de trois blocs dans le pays (un bloc macroniste de centre-droit, un bloc d'extrême-droite et un bloc de gauche).
^"Macron coalition, leftwing bloc neck and neck in first round of French elections".France 24. Agence France-Presse. 12 June 2022. Retrieved13 June 2022.The election 'confirms the fact that Ensemble (Macron's coalition) is now the centre-right,' says Mathieu Doiret of FRANCE 24's polling partners Ipsos, noting that the president's camp now draws most of its support from an elderly, centre-right constituency that previously voted for the mainstream conservative party, Les Républicains. Should Macron's coalition fail to win an outright majority, an alliance with the rump of the Républicains is the most likely outcome, Doiret added. 'We have a centre-right majority because elderly people hold the balance of power, because they vote twice as much as the young,' he said. 'That's why Angela Merkel stayed in power for so long in Germany and why Boris Johnson wins in the UK.'
^Sicard, Stéphane (26 September 2022). [[[:fr:Adrien Quatennens#cite note-56]] "Politique: Après deux mains courantes, Cécile Quatennens a porté plainte contre son mari, député de la France Insoumise"]. lindependant.fr. L'Independant. Retrieved13 April 2023.{{cite news}}:Check|url= value (help)
^"Législatives 2022 en direct – Le Pen vise 100 députés RN, Mélenchon agite le spectre de la TVA sociale, Macron appelle ' au sursaut républicain ' : la journée du 14 juin".Le Monde (in French). 14 June 2022. Retrieved15 June 2022.La majorité sortante a eu des difficultés à préciser sa position en cas de duel au deuxième tour entre la Nupes et le RN. La première ministre, Elisabeth Borne, a fini par déclarer lundi : ' Notre position, c'est aucune voix pour le RN. ' ' Et pour la Nupes, si on a affaire à un candidat qui ne respecte pas les valeurs républicaines, qui insulte nos policiers, qui demande de ne plus soutenir l'Ukraine, qui veut sortir de l'Europe, alors nous n'allons pas voter pour lui ', a poursuivi Mme Borne, qui est arrivée en tête dans sa circonscription dans le Calvados.
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