Five weeks before the legislative elections, the head of La France Insoumise urged the left-wing parties to conclude negotiations for a union this evening. The conditions of EE-LV have all been accepted, but discussions remain tense with the PCF and the PS.
Last straight line for the union of the left. At the start of the Paris parade on May 1, Jean-Luc Mélenchon extended the optimism highlighted the day before in the JDD. With only five weeks left before the legislative elections, the leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) is urging the left-wing parties engaged in tight negotiations to conclude an agreement. “We are a few millimeters away from hearing each other”he loose in a microphone in front of the demonstrators.
Backed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s 21.95% in the first round of the presidential election, LFI has launched bilateral discussions with the other left-wing parties with the aim of finding an agreement for the legislative elections. The negotiations supposed to end on Sunday with the ecologists of EE-LV, the Communist Party (PCF), the PS and the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), all below 5% in the April 10 ballot, alternate between accelerations and blockages. “It’s progressing, be sure that we are doing everything in our power to make it progress”assures Jean-Luc Mélenchon, cheered by the demonstrators on his arrival at Place de la République.
Objective: that the discussions end “tonight”insists Mélenchon, “because if it doesn’t end tonight, that means it will never end”. All the more so since it is necessary to “enter the campaign”, the deadline approaching fast.
At this stage, “all EELV conditions have been accepted”, but discussions remain complicated with the PCF and the PS. The candidate who came third in the presidential election, however, remains hopeful: “On May 3, in memory of the Front Populaire, we will have signed, we will have the new Popular Union, and in five weeks, victory.” In the meantime, the clock keeps ticking.