French left expected to announce 'Popular Front' alliance

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00:00Definitely hoping to hear from the left-wing front very soon, this so-called

00:06new popular front. I can tell you a lot of action and heated discussions taking

00:10place, but behind closed doors. And when leaders of the left come out, they don't

00:15really give us any information. But we have been told that a statement could be

00:20released tonight, anytime soon really, and then a press conference tomorrow with

00:26the key figures of the left-wing. You have the Green Party, the Socialist

00:31France on about of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. So why such tensions? Because there are

00:38577 constituencies in France, and of course this new popular front, this

00:44left-wing bloc, is seeking to present one candidate per constituency. In other

00:50words, unite, and there's therefore a lot of negotiations regarding the winnable

00:56constituencies, those areas of France where the left-wing stands a good chance

01:01of winning in these legislative elections. And of course the radical left

01:06with France Unbound are keen to retain leadership, even though they didn't

01:11finish first from the left-wing parties in the EU elections, that was the

01:15Socialists. But in the previous presidential and then legislative

01:19elections, it was the radical left that was leading the left, and therefore

01:24they're trying to keep that control, keep the balance of power in their

01:28favour. Now Clovis, if the left-wing alliance does best in this election, and

01:34that's a big if obviously, but if they do, they could be the ones to nominate

01:39the Prime Minister. Do we know at this stage who that might turn out to be?

01:44We're not sure yet, but let me tell you that behind me you can see a small

01:49crowd, well those are left-wing supporters chanting, do not betray us,

01:55unite. And what they're saying, and what many left-wing supporters are saying,

01:59it's not time to decide who's going to be leading this bloc, because it's only

02:04going to create more divisions, tensions between the different parties. But of

02:08course there are some names already coming up, notably Jean-Luc Mélenchon,

02:12the boss of France Unbound. Radical left leader, controversial one in France, or at

02:18least among some parts of France. And he's also infuriated, angered many on the

02:23left, the Socialists, the Green Party in the past for his style, seen as not

02:30particularly consensual, not keen to minimise tensions really. He has

02:36created many tensions, angered many, and therefore a lot of people here at the

02:41New Popular Front don't want him to be the Prime Minister if the left wins the

02:46coming elections. But there are other names coming up, notably François Ruffin

02:50from his own party, or Laurent Berger who's the union leader, former union

02:56leader for the CFDT, very popular here in France.

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