Radical left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon came third in the first round of the recent presidential election, winning the support of nearly eight million voters. That gives his France Unbowed party enormous clout in this week's negotiations with the Socialists on the possible formation of a left-wing Popular Union. So how are the talks going?
The Socialist Party has accepted certain measures outlined in the Popular Union programme, and has made a number of counter-suggestions.
"This is not an agreement," says a party statement. "We have underlined the points we can accept, without trying to hide those elements which divide us, notably on the question of Europe."
According to the four-page document released on Friday morning, the Socialists say they have answered the 12 crucial questions posed in the Popular Union draft agreement, and are now ready to move on to the next stage of negotiations.
The whole point is to agree a common strategy of the fragmented left before the first round of parliamentary polls in June, with a view to mounting a combined challenge against President Macron's centrist La Republique on the Move party.
A landscape with three blocs
France's political landscape is now fragmented into three blocs: the centre, far-right and radical left. This follows the abysmal performance of traditional parties the Socialists and the Republicans in the presidential election.
Mélenchon’s France Unbowed party is, without question, the leading force on the left.
He obtained more than twice as many votes as the combined score of the other five leftist candidates in the presidential race.
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They include the Greens candidate Yannick Jadot, the Socialist Anne Hidalgo, Communist Party candidate Fabien Roussel, Philippe Poutou from the New Anti-Capitalist Party, and Nathalie Arthaud from the Workers’ Struggle.
While Mélenchon has already begun to position himself as a potential prime minister in a National Assembly dominated by the left, the traditional socialists are anxious to broaden the potential alliance, attempting to attract the ecology camp and other left-leaning voters.
"The real discussions have not yet begun," according to Friday's statement.
European bones of contention
Mélenchon's France Unbowed has promised to "disobey" European Union rules in cases where French interests are adversely affected.
The standard Socialists are, in contrast, deeply committed to a continuation of the continental union and refuse all talk of a "divide" between France and the 27-nation bloc.
Separate negotiations are on-going between Mélenchon's party and the ecologists, with an agreement "very close" according to Julien Bayou of Europe Ecology – the Greens.
Campaign posters calling on voters to "elect Jean-Luc Mélenchon prime minister" have already begun to appear, with his supporters hoping they can obtain a majority in the new parliament, and force President Macron's hand in the nomination of the new government.
French parliamentary elections take place on 12 and 19 June.
