The Socialist Party (PS) and the Communist Party are taking a step towards Jean-Luc Mélenchon for the legislative elections.

While the Insoumis proposed Friday to environmentalists and communists to form a coalition for the legislative elections of June 12 and 19, but excluding the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure assures that "(his) hand is outstretched", in an interview with the newspaper Liberation published on Saturday April 16.

"I am ready to engage in a dialogue on the condition that it is not the staging of a lying poker", explains the First Secretary, who on the evening of the first round, had already called for "a pact for social justice and ecological". 

He recognizes that "the presidential campaign has left traces" between the two camps.

But "unless you accept the idea that the left has only a minority vocation, it is not possible to refuse discussion with the left formation which has the strongest territorial network", it is to say the PS. 

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Agree on unique candidates 

He already poses some principles for an agreement: "First, aim for single candidates wherever the threat from the far right exists. Then, avoid fratricidal duels whenever there is a leftist or environmentalist". 

"Finally, agree as often as possible on the candidate who has the best chance of winning against the right, taking into account the results of the last elections, the dynamics specific to the presidential election and the territorial settlements “, he continues.

But while the rebellious want to build a coalition on the basis of their program, Olivier Faure believes that "gathering will never be caporalization. Disagreements exist. (...) We must come together on our common fights while respecting different stories and projects". 

He recalls that PS and LFI "fought together in the Assembly" on many projects.

"These fights justify the gathering even if we will never be clones. I respect the rebellious but I am not rebellious. No one will pass under a fathom," he warns.

"All forces on the left must act together"

For its part, the Communist Party says it is "ready to discuss" with LFI for the legislative elections, estimating, in a letter made public on Saturday, that "all the forces of the left must act together", "in respect of their results on the deadlines elections and their specificities".

 “We are ready to discuss your proposals and we also have some to submit to you, aiming for a basis of shared agreement on all the questions”, writes the national executive committee of the PCF.

For the communists, "all the forces of the left face a historic responsibility and must act together: by coming together, respecting their electoral results and their specificities, they can defeat Macron's right, the extreme right and elect as many left-wing deputies as possible by aiming to obtain a left-wing majority in the National Assembly".

With AFP

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