Melanchon, French Greens ally against Macron ahead of elections

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French left-wing parties tried to form a united front against President Emmanuel Macron in the parliamentary elections taking place next month, with France's La France Insoumise (LFI) leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon clinching a deal with the Greens on Monday.

While Macron needs support from the majority of lawmakers to push through a pro-business and pro-EU legislative agenda, polls for next month's parliamentary elections suggest he could achieve that, but opposition parties are negotiating tie-ups, hoping to control parliament and as a result blocking Macron's reforms.

Melenchon is pressing for an unprecedented alliance with the Greens, the Socialists, and the Communists.

The Greens and LFI hailed the deal and described it as a "historic moment," saying that agreements with other parties of the left would be followed. Presidential left-wing candidate Fabien Roussel said the Communist party could join them soon. 

Socialists, however, have been divided about whether to join this alliance, finding it tricky.

In Melenchon's deal with the Greens, the two parties said that even if they agreed France should not abandon the euro or leave the EU, they were "ready to disobey European rules", including on matters such as budgets and competition issues.

Socialist Party head Olivier Faure refused the idea, saying "We're not Frexiters," but he agreed that some EU free-market policies needed to be reformed.

+60% of French voters against Macron securing majority in Parliament

Despite Macron winning the presidential elections, more than 60% of French voters do not want President Emmanuel Macron to achieve a majority in the National Assembly in the coming parliamentary elections set to be held in June, a new poll reveals.

The majority of French people do not want Macron to win in the June legislative elections: 63% of those questioned said they want Macron not to have a majority in parliament, while 35% said they do want him to secure a majority, according to an Opinionway poll conducted for Cnews and Europe 1.

The survey was conducted on April 24, among 1,300 French voters, after the first results of the presidential election runoff were published.

Asked about who they would favor as prime minister, 46% chose Marine Le Pen, 44% said they favored Jean-Luc Melenchon, while only 8% took Valerie Pecresse's side.

The French presidential election runoff was held on Sunday, April 24. The French Interior Ministry said after processing 100 percent of the ballots that incumbent President Emmanuel Macron won with 58.55% of the votes, while far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen received 41.45%.

During the first round, held on April 10, Macron won 27.8%, while Le Pen secured 23.15% of the votes.