It is exactly ninety years since the French Socialist and Communist parties began to create the Popular Front, which dominated French politics in the mid-1930s. The danger then was the threat of the far Right \u2014 a threat which turned into a reality when the German army invaded France in 1940. Some of the same right-wingers who the Popular Front kept out of power returned to rule as minions of the Nazi invaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though an invasion of France by its NATO ally Germany seems rather unlikely at this point, the threat of the far Right has not diminished. As a result, The main parties of the French Left \u2014 Socialists, Communists, Greens, and Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon\u2019s \u201cLa France Insoumise\u201d (LFI) \u2014 have come together in a New Popular Front (NFP) aimed at denying power to the National Rally of Marine Le Pen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some polls show that the New Popular Front may win as many votes in the legislative elections at the end of this month as Le Pen\u2019s party. If that happens, a government of the centre-left becomes not only possible, but likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what kind of Left?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
M\u00e9lenchon is as unpopular as Le Pen among many French voters. He has been accused of being pro-Putin, which he denies, and of supporting Hamas. As Politico<\/em> reported last October, M\u00e9lenchon\u2019s \u201creluctance to condemn Hamas despite the scale of the attack against Israel, and the brutality of the violence inflicted on civilians, is seen as crossing a red line for many in France.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until recently his LFI was the largest party on the French Left, but the recent European elections have changed all that. A resurgent democratic Left led by the charismatic Rapha\u00ebl Glucksmann, is now at the centre of the NFP \u2014 and it\u2019s having an effect on what the new bloc stands for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of negotiations to draft the party program, Glucksmann summed up what had happened with these words: \u201cIt’s been hard, but what we’ve obtained is a very clear commitment on support for Ukraine \u2026 and that the attacks of October 7 be described as ‘terrorist\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n M\u00e9lenchon had taken a step away from the limelight, and the new platform reflects that. Nevertheless, his LFI is being given the largest number of candidates for the legislative elections, though it is not clear how many of them will be elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NFP position on Hamas sounds surprisingly reasonable. If elected, they are committed to \u201cact for the release of hostages held since the terrorist massacres of Hamas, whose theocratic project we reject” — in other words, Hamas are in fact terrorists and theocrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Ukraine the platform calls the Russian invasion an act of aggression and demands that Putin answer for his crimes. The NFP calls upon France and the West do more to support Ukraine, with specific measures including ramping up weapons deliveries, cancellation of Ukraine\u2019s foreign debt, and seizure of assets of Russian oligarchs who support Putin and his war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NFP has also identified the rise of antisemitism in France as a specific problem that needs to be addressed by the incoming government. \u201cAll those who spread hatred of Jews must Glucksmann was himself the victim of antisemitic attacks \u2014 as was Leon Blum, the Jewish leader of the original Popular Front, decades ago. M\u00e9lenchon had insisted \u201cthat French antisemitism was merely \u2018residual\u2019,\u201d according to Art Goldhammer, who writes about French politics. Glucksmann\u2019s view prevailed on this too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NFP, thanks to Glucksmann and his allies, sounds a lot more like Keir Starmer than Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon, or Jeremy Corbyn, and that is a very good thing. The further M\u00e9lenchon and his toxic ideas fade in the background, the better for the French Left and for France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In adopting a clear position supporting Ukraine and rejecting Hamas, the NFP has passed a litmus test for political decency that many parties and leaders on the Left have failed in recent years. The success of the NFP \u2014 and its creation is already a success story \u2014 may lead other Lefts in other countries to rethink their own views.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
be fought,\u201d they say. \u201cWe will propose an interministerial plan to analyze, prevent and fight against anti-Semitism in France.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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