Few thought the day would ever come, but an earthquake is about to shake up French politics. Ahead of next month’s legislative elections, France’s famously fractious leftwing parties have decided to join forces, with Europe Ecology-the Greens (EELV), the Socialist party (PS) and the French Communist party (PCF) coalescing around Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left populist La France Insoumise (LFI) and uniting around a common set of candidates.
In France’s semi-presidential system, the legislative elections often go overlooked, but they play a decisive role in determining how much of the president’s agenda can actually be enacted. Without a majority in the national assembly, the president is forced to share power with a rival prime minister and cabinet – a situation known as “cohabitation”. It’s happened three times before, but not since 2002, when legislative elections were moved to take place just after the presidential election.
