The main difficulty is that Bayrou’s government, which he announced on Monday, looks a lot like that of his predecessor, Michel Barnier. It has mostly centrist and conservative lawmakers in key roles, even though the sum of its opposing forces — Marine Le Pen’s far right and a pan-leftwing alliance called the New Popular Front … Read more
Like Barnier, Bayrou lacks majority support in France’s fragmented legislature. His challenge is to persuade enough parties to refrain from backing no-confidence motions in the name of stability, offering certain concessions in return. “As a matter of principle, he would like to have regular appointments with political parties,” Le Pen said. “I think that method … Read more
The 27-year-old has made it clear in recent weeks that a strategy like Trump’s, fusing a campaign focused on a no-holds-barred approach to immigration with bold rhetoric, could find a receptive audience in France given the Republican candidate’s success siphoning Black, Latino and female voters from the Democratic party. “The Muslim vote, in particular, offers … Read more
The far right took a different approach. National Rally leader Jordan Bardella accused Macron of ignoring the millions of people who voted for his party by excluding it from the meeting. Retaining control With some of the most radical forces removed from the negotiation table, Macron’s hopes lie in convincing the remaining parties to refrain … Read more
So Macron will just appoint a new prime minister, right? Yes, but it’s not that simple. The French National Assembly is divided into three political blocs: Macron’s centrists, the far-right National Rally, and the left-wing coalition. The three groups are poles apart on politics and refuse to work together, meaning that any new government could … Read more
Fayard announced it would take legal action on Friday, less than 24 hours before the book goes on sale. In its statement, the publisher claimed that the cover of Bardella’s book “does not contain any political statements,” and that the Mediatransports decision “constitutes a serious infringement of freedom of expression.” Publicis and French rail network … Read more
Cultural differences The National Rally is not the first French party to face accusations of misusing MEP funds for domestic operations. Earlier this year, the centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem), part of the coalition supporting French President Emmanuel Macron, was fined €300,000 over similar allegations. The European Parliament had initially estimated €1.4 million in losses from … Read more
In the end it was France’s left-wing bloc — not Marine Len Pen’s far-right National Rally — that came out on top. French voters had gone to the polls on Sunday amid expectations that the National Rally (RN) and its allies could, for the first time, clinch the most seats in parliament and even build … Read more
The broader leftist coalition — under the banner of the New Popular Front — is falling out already. Its leaders on Sunday evening were sending conflicting messages about their goals. While Mélenchon said the left would apply “our manifesto, nothing but our manifesto,” the MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, leader of a smaller party in the alliance, … Read more
After a month-long campaign, the makeup of the new French National Assembly will be determined tonight as voters head to the polls in the final round of the parliamentary election. The far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies finished far ahead of their competitors in the first round of voting, securing a third of the … Read more
