Noted Indo-French Leftist documentary film-maker, trade-union activist, and an organizer of Indian Alliance Paris (IAP) Joy Bannerjee speaks to Akash Bhattacharya.

Liberation: We are relieved to see the far-Right electorally thwarted, at least for now, in France. How did the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) come together in such quick time?

Joy Bannerjee: It is indeed amazing to see the major Left parties come together so quickly. But this did not happen in a day. The most important party within the NFP, La France Insoumise (LFI) has been building its strength for a while. It’s leader Jean-Luc Melenchon did very well in the last Presidential election.

But just a year ago, all these parties were engaged in bitter debates about ideologies and programs. However, with the far-Right gaining in strength in the European elections, these parties quickly decided that it was time to unite around some core issues such as Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular pension reforms, increase of the retirement age from 62 to 64, inflation and price rise. 80% of the French people were opposed to the pension bill and people hated Macron’s constitutional tricks to get the bill passed without the approval of the National Assembly.

Not only the LFI, but also the Socialists and the Green Party have been doing well in recent elections. The Communist Party used to be very strong earlier, but have now grown much weaker. The partner trade unions of these parties also played a key part in crystallizing the alliance.

Having said that, there is some disunity within the NFP about the LFI’s leadership. The LFI has the maximum seats within the NFP and claims that its leader should be the Prime Minister but President Macron is reluctant to work with the LFI and with Melenchon. Melenchon has openly supported the Palestinian cause and the LFI has taken quite an uncompromising stance in opposing neoliberal policies.

The LFI has been dubbed as the “far-Left” by sections of the mainstream media and by centrist parties, and declared as unfit to govern as the far-Right. Much like Jeremy Corbyn in Britain, charges of antisemitism have been levelled against Melenchon. Under these circumstances, other constituents of the NFP, especially the Socialist Party has urged the NFP to look towards alternative leadership. Raphael Glucksmann of Place Publique is been viewed by many as a more acceptable alternative to Melenchon. That’s where things stand as of now.

Is there a longer history of popular movements and solidarities that made this coalition possible?

Yes, there is a longer history. Ever since the so-called Socialist President Francois Hollande came to power, France has embraced neoliberalism like never before. Hollande and his successor Macron seemed more enthusiastic about market policies than hardened neoliberals. Macron claimed that the age of the Left and the Right was over, and sought to make politics technocratic and post-ideological. This was a garb. Hollande significantly weakened trade unions and workers’ rights, while Macron attacked pensions and cut public spending. All these measures were countered with mass mobilizations but these were not very effective in stalling the reforms.

Students, youth, feminists. and activists of various hues played key roles in these movements. The Yellow Jackets movement emerged in November 2018, motivated by rising fuel prices, a high cost of living, and economic inequality. The movement pointed out that a disproportionate burden of the government’s tax reforms was falling on the working and middle classes, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. It was a popular grassroots movement, and not led by the Left parties or by trade-unions.

The Left parties and trade unions played a big role in the mobilizations against the increase in retirement age and the pension bill in 2023. That was a Left mobilization in a true sense and it raised a whole range of issues: public education, price rise, rising costs of living, social justice and others. These mobilizations generated a great deal of political momentum and sparked off conversations regarding the necessity of a new kind of politics. Not only the unjust nature of Macron’s policies but also the ways in which these were pushed through a weak parliamentary system generated a lot of anger.

How big a victory is this for the French Left? Is it more a result of clever electioneering or is there mass support for the Left?

The core constituents of the Left coalition – the LFI and the Socialists in particular – have consistently performed well electorally in the recent past. The Communist Party’s vote share has declined from 15-16% two decades ago to a meagre 2% now. However, the performance of the LFI and the Socialists indicates the rising popularity of the Left. The LFI has steadfastly refused to compromise on its program – raising the minimum wages, stopping inflation, bringing the retirement age back to 62, reconsidering the pension bill, and others. This has helped them win more votes. So yes, part of the vote is a positive vote for the Left, but much of it is also a negative vote against the far-Right. The understanding between the centrists and the Left after the first round of polls certain helped transfer votes.

Sticking to its principles, the LFI is dedicated to implementing its program despite the fact that NFP is short of an absolute majority. However, some other constituents of the NFP are open to collaborations and compromises with centrist parties in order to take power.

Does the NFP have a common program?

Oh yes. There is a very precise 150-point program on which the parties have come together, which includes the program that I just mentioned: minimum wages, inflation, retirement, pension bill, education, social justice and others. And there is a popular pressure on the Left parties to stick together.

I remember back in 2002, when Marine Le Pen reached the second round of the Presidential election, there was a million-strong demonstration against the far-Right but in last week’s rally after the Left victory there were only 30-40 thousand people. Something has changed. The National Rally (RN) has managed to make a big impact on civil society and hence a lot of people feel that unless something is done, nothing can stop the far-Right.

Up to last year there was massive animosity within the Left parties, and some of them made horrible statements about Melenchon. Now this time, common people are telling the Left: don’t betray us, stick together.

Which sections does the Left draw its support from?

The trade union support base has unfortunately dwindled. That’s partly because both factories as well as the public sector – the two core bases of trade unions have declined. But whatever remains of that base still counts for much; these played a crucial part in the mass demonstrations against the pension reforms. Besides, the LFI launched vigorous campaigns in suburbs and migrant workers’ colonies talking about their rights. This has had a great impact on the Algerian, Moroccan and African immigrants in particular. The LFI has also given lots of good speeches in favour of the Palestinian cause. Students, youth, feminists, LGBTQI groups have drawn close to the Left. Thus, the Left has found new takers.

The immigrants are an important section. They live in dire conditions. Their colonies are characterized by poverty, low wages, unemployment and violence. Last year, a 17-year-old school boy, Nahel Merzouk, was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. The incident occurred on June 27, 2023, and sparked widespread protests and riots across France. The LFI launched some good campaigns against police violence and racism. It was clear that the boy was shot solely because he was an Arab, and such attacks are not uncommon.

Immigration is clearly a major issue for the far-Right RN. But what are the other issues they are trying to exploit?

You see, around 20 years ago, the Communist Party was very strong. They had a lot of support among industrial workers but there are very few industries left in France now. The dwindling of the traditional Left support base enabled the rise of the far-Right. In fact, many traditional Left voters shifted allegiances, as the RN began to pose as a protector of working-class interests. Populist rhetoric has played a major role in their rise. They can say anything, and they say it in a way that captures the imagination of the uneducated people.

Above all, it’s the anti-immigration sentiment. They blame every problem on the immigrants. Unemployment, poor wages, it’s all because immigrants are taking jobs away. France has a good social welfare system implemented by the Popular Front government of 1936 but they say that the immigrants are cornering all the benefits. They say that they will finance their social welfare program by cutting all welfare benefits currently given to migrants. And they are not only against those who are coming now. They are saying that they will pass a bill to determine who is French and who is not, double citizenship will not be allowed, so on and so forth. There are some real fascists in there.

There is also the ongoing debate about secularism. There was a debate on headscarves, and the Right-wing peddled a lot of Islamophobia and stoked anti-Arab, anti-African sentiments. Of course, for them your background does not matter beyond a point; whether you are Arabic, or Indian, or Muslim or Sikh is immaterial, if you are not part of white France. They were hardly supported by the mainstream media but just like Narendra Modi has used Adani and Ambani to capture media spaces, they have roped in 2-3 major business tycoons and used them to have more influence over the media.

How do you see the far-Right react to this result?

Very important question. They are dissatisfied with the results and quite disappointed. But the fact is 10-11 million out of a population of around 60 million have voted for them. While the NFP may be single-largest block, as a party RN is quite ahead of the rest. They are saying that the election was stolen from them by the “anti-coalition”, as not only the Left but also the centrists joined hands to keep the RN and its allies out. The problem now is that Macron is more uncomfortable with the LFI than with the RN and may try to break the Left coalition. This will lead to such a mess that the RN will claim that they are the only party that can govern. That could give them enough support to capture power in the near future.

What next for the NFP?

The NFP has insisted that it should be given a chance to govern and that it will implement its program. However, Macron is stalling Mechelon’s appointment; he is more comfortable with the far-Right than with an ideologically committed Left. The centrists and the mainstream media have really vilified Mechelon as antisemite and what not. I really hope that the NFP sticks by Mechelon. He is a great speaker, very well read and articulate. If the non-LFI parties within the NFP dither and the NFP splits that will be a disaster. The NFP must not allow Macron to succeed in destabilizing the coalition.