The bilateral negotiations led by LFI - dominant on the left with the 22% of Mr. Mélenchon on April 10 - with EELV, the PS, the PCF and the NPA, all below 5%, have experienced successive accelerations and blockages for 10 days.

The deadline set by the protagonists, Sunday, is approaching.

"We offer them a battle to win. It's unifying, isn't it? They have to get out of the lose", and "assume the will to win", exclaims Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the Journal du dimanche.

He laments: "For some of our partners, winning is a chimera. They have a permanent culture of defeat. So they let themselves be absorbed by internal issues".

Thus, "the proximity of the EELV congress and their internal mode of organization complicate the task. We participate in meetings where they debate among themselves, rather than agree with us", regrets the tribune.

Julien Bayou (D), national secretary of EELV, arrives at LFI headquarters in Paris on April 29, 2022, accompanied by EELV spokespersons Eva Esa and Alain Coulombel Thomas COEX AFP

It also refers, in hollow, to the suspension of negotiations by the PS, where certain elected officials and a minority current vilify the search for an agreement with LFI, historical antagonist.

"Similarly, there is a gap between what the Communist delegation tells us and what Fabien Roussel says," says Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

He agrees that "it is not an agreement like any other: it is an agreement on a strategy, on a program and a collective mode of operation. Not an electoral grub".

He says he is "optimistic": "I think we will find an agreement. We would like this to be settled tomorrow (Sunday). For the moment, everything is floating, everything is moving. I take it in a relaxed way".

Nevertheless, he "warns": "People will not agree to have their victory stolen from them twice by those who refuse to build this new majority. The People's Union has gathered twice as many voters as the whole of the other components of the left, and five times more than each of them".

However, he ensures that "everyone has a group in the National Assembly".

"What more? Bad losers will be judged harshly," he warns.

The nomination convention for the People's Union candidates will take place on May 7.

© 2022 AFP