France‘s radical left-wing coalition has vowed to bring in a 90 per cent tax rate on the rich following their shock election triumph on Sunday.
In a result that caught political commentators by surprise, the New Popular Front emerged as the biggest party in the second round of the elections which ended in a deadlock, gaining 182 seats ahead of President Emmanuel Macron‘s centrist Ensemble party, on 168.
Marine Le Pen ‘s populist right National Rally, which won the first round of elections on June 30, performed poorly in the second round and only obtained 143 seats.
The NPF appears to be heading for a power struggle with president Macron – as he wants to be free to pick the next Prime Minister himself – against the backdrop of tensions and uncertainty in a country with a long history of political violence.
The NPF – a coalition put together just before the elections which include the socialists, the ecologists, the communists and the radical France Unbowed party – have not designated a candidate for French Prime Minister and the group’s leaders met on Monday to try and agree upon who would be put forward for the job.
Manuel Bompard, coordinator of France Unbowed, said: ‘We are preparing to govern, to apply the programme which is ours.’
The programme includes a 90 per cent tax rate on any annual income above €400,000, a reduction in the retirement age from 64 to 60, a block on the price of essential goods, a 14 per cent increase in minimum wage and spending commitments of at least €150 billion over three years.
Manuel Bompard (pictured), coordinator of France Unbowed, said the coalition was ‘preparing to govern’
Emmanuel Macron (pictured) believes he can be the architect of a ‘rainbow’ coalition – bringing his MPs together with centre-right Republicans and moderate left-wingers
Macron’s Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, fell out with the President over the dissolution of parliament and resigned from the role.
However, they were promptly asked to stay on in a caretaker capacity until at least the Paris Olympics – which are due to open in two weeks.
In a sign of rising tensions between the left and the Élysée Palace, Bompard suggested that Macron was trying to defy the will of the people by maintaining Attal.
He urged Macron to ‘respect’ the election result, adding: ‘There is no question of Gabriel Attal’s contribution as Prime Minister, wiping out the vote of the French people.’
Macron’s supporters have a very different view of the election, which they said ended inconclusively.
Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior of France, said ‘No one won’ and claimed that both the Rally and the NPF ‘had lost’.
France now finds itself in a situation familiar to Italy and Germany of having to find a coalition government able to command a majority in parliament.
Sylvain Maillard, an MP with Macron’s group, said the search could take ‘several weeks’
He said: ‘The French people have chosen a parliament with three blocks of roughly equal size’.
Macron believes he can be the architect of a ‘rainbow’ coalition – bringing his MPs together with centre-right Republicans and moderate left-wingers.
Maillard said all MPs would be welcome except for those belonging to the Rally or France Unbowed, before stressing that the new government would have to focus on living standards and insecurity.