On Tuesday, French political parties were racing to form alliances within and without their own ranks ahead of a snap election in which Marine Le Pen’s far-right party seems set to triumph.
The euro and French stocks and bonds fell after President Emmanuel Macron said the lower house of parliament would be elected on June 30 and July 7 following his defeat in Sunday’s European Parliament vote.
Moody’s warned that France’s already difficult fiscal position could be made worse by the political instability caused by the snap election.
Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) topped the first poll issued on Monday, but it was predicted not to have an absolute majority of votes according to the survey.
As such, this means RN had to look for allies who would help them take control of Parliament while some others from mainstream parties tried to team up to hinder the far right from taking over power in the second biggest economy of Eurozone.
These two factions are also going after Les Republicains (LR), which have been in government for decades but are now a pale shadow of their former selves. Some worry it is about to fall apart given defections both into Macron’s centrist party and towards the extreme right. This concern may not be unfounded.
RN president Jordan Bardella has already announced that he was making attempts at wooing more LR members while he might also support some in the upcoming election making this even clearer.
“I call upon Les Republicains (Republicans) to stop being Emmanuel Macron’s political crutch”, he told RTL radio. “If you have convictions, if you love your country…come and work alongside us.”
Conversely, Edouard Philippe, a former LR member who served as premier under Macron appealed for moderate forces including socialists and conservatives, among others, to unite together.
“We must embrace working with others”, he told RTL. “Let us build something collectively for our country.”
But this long-standing consensus among France’s political elites to reunite against the far right, once unshakeable but already weakened over the years, appeared increasingly brittle.
“Never with us!,” wrote Eric Ciotti, head of Republicans.
According to Le Figaro daily Ciotti even indicated he was open to local alliances with the RN in some constituencies—prompting immediate denials from others in his party.
“I cannot imagine (nor do many LR MPs) a single agreement or alliance, even at a local level, or personal with the RN.” said Philippe Gosselin, an LR lawmaker. “I would remain in a party and a group that would go that far.”
Doesn’t left stand divided?
However France’s divided leftist parties vowed to field common candidates for next month’s polls during their yet-to-be finalized deal.
In their joint statement late on Monday, the Socialist Party, Greens and more radical LFI (France Unbowed) and Communist parties pledged to “present an alternative to (President) Emmanuel Macron and fight against the racist project of the far right”.
“There are times in history when nobody should be allowed to sleep… we need something to jar us into action, and this union will be a great first step,” said French senator Yannick Jadot of the Green party.
Although it is hard to predict the outcome of the vote, the left does not seem capable of winning. They can however hope to influence who becomes prime minister.
According to sources close to Mr Macron, “the republican forces on one side, the extremist forces on the other are positioning themselves” adding that: “The President is scheduled give a press conference tomorrow Wednesday afternoon”.
However, RN maintain that it it not racist. It advocates protectionist economic policy for France as well as reduction in immigration. It would limit child benefit payments only to French citizens and take away residence permit from jobless migrants after one year.
Notably, it has also called for more public spending as if there is no huge French debt already thereby further raising bank financing costs threateningly.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged business leaders to help fight far-right extremism.
“I appeal to entrepreneurs; I call on you artisans and shopkeepers”, TVBF quoted Le Maire as saying.
“It’s an election where everyone has got to put their dirty hands in…It is absolutely significant since 1958,” he said of what marked the beginning of modern politics for France as at now.
