The election of the French parliament: a huge shake-up, but polarization continues
The election of the French parliament: a huge shake-up, but polarization continues John Mullen Macron’s “neither left nor right” movement, “The Republic on the Move” will have a huge majority in the new French parliament. The Socialist party was crushed and the right-wing Republicans badly wounded. The fascist FN was held back to some extent, and the radical Left La France Insoumise got promising results, though considerably lower than at last month’s presidentials. This movement is now the focus of a potential fighting left alternative. The presidential elections in May showed a tremendous polarization in French politics. The fascist vote of over seven million in the first round, on the one hand, allowed the Front National an unprecedented centre stage in political debate. On the other hand, we saw an excellent result - also over seven million - for the radical left programme of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his France Insoumise movement. There was a sharp decline of those parties which ha...