New Ecological and Social People's Union
New Ecological and Social People's Union Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | NUPES |
| Leader | Collective leadership |
| Founded | 1 May 2022 |
| Dissolved | 10 June 2024 |
| Succeeded by | New Popular Front |
| Political position | Left-wing[1] |
| Colours |
|
| Website | |
| nupes-2022 | |
The New Ecological and Social People's Union[2][3] (French: Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale, NUPES)[a] was a left-wing electoral alliance of political parties in France.[4][5] Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance included La France Insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS), the French Communist Party (PCF), The Ecologists (LE), Ensemble! (E!), and Génération.s (G.s), and their respective smaller partners.[6][7] It was the first wide left-wing political alliance since the Plural Left in the 1997 French legislative election.[8] Over 70 dissident candidates who refused the accord still ran.[9]
Per a press release,[10] the union's founding goal for the 2022 legislative election was to deny Emmanuel Macron's Ensemble Citoyens on the centre-right a presidential majority in the National Assembly,[1][11][12] and to also defeat the French far-right.[13] EELV and LFI signed an agreement that had the alliance won a majority of seats, they would have put forward Mélenchon as prime minister of France for a cohabitation.[14][15][16] NUPES won the most seats outside of Ensemble, denying Macron a majority; at the same time, they underperformed expectations, only winning about 22% of the seats and 26% of the popular vote, while the far-right National Rally obtained its best result ever and became the largest parliamentary opposition group, due to NUPES being an electoral alliance.[17]
In October 2023, the coalition's future was put in doubt when the Socialist Party voted a "moratorium" on its participation to the NUPES alliance following LFI leadership's refusal to qualify Hamas as a terrorist organization in the context of the Israel–Hamas war.[18]
History
[edit]Formation
[edit]In October 2021, shortly before the 2022 French presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the initiator of the coalition,[6][7] launched the People's Union.[19] In December 2021, he announced the creation of a Parliament of the People's Union, which aimed to bring together personalities from outside La France Insoumise (LFI) in order to support its candidacy.[20]
In the context of the 2022 French legislative election, LFI, the largest left-wing force in the presidential election, sought to unite the main left-wing parties around the banner of the New People's Ecological and Social Union.[21] Discussions were held with the Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) and the French Communist Party (PCF), which joined the coalition on 2–3 May 2022, respectively, while the Socialist Party (PS), after having reached an agreement to join the coalition on 4 May, voted to do so in its National Council on 5 May.[22][23] After that, the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) announced it would not enter the coalition due to insurmountable ideological differences with the PS;[24][25][26] it also said it would support the coalition's candidates that belonged to the radical left-wing.[27] The Republican and Socialist Left (GRS) said it would negotiate its entry into the union.[28][29]
Two groupings of smaller left-wing parties reached out to the coalition seeking to start negotiations: the Federation of the Republican Left, composed of GRS along with the Citizen and Republican Movement, Engagement, Left Radicals, and the New Socialist Left, and the Social and Ecologist Rally, composed of Allons Enfants, Democratic and Social Left, Liberté Ecologie Fraternité, New Deal, and Together on Our Territories.[30][31] Failing to do so, the GRS and its allies announced its intention to run 100 candidates.[32] On 20 May, New Deal announced that it was withdrawing its candidates and endorsing NUPES candidates around the country.[33]
Expansion
[edit]With the aim of a coalition agreement, EELV proposed changing the name People's Union to Popular and Ecologist Union, or People's Ecologist and Social Front.[34] Shortly before 2 May, an agreement was concluded with EELV, under the common banner of the New Ecological and Social People's Union.[35] The agreement provided for 100 constituencies out of 577 for the environmental bloc. EELV wanted the centers of the cities won in the 2020 French municipal elections. It obtained Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Lyon, as well as the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 9th constituencies of Paris.[36] On 3 May, the PCF announced that it would join the coalition.[37] In its press release, the party said it would want to form a majority with its allies and that the PCF and LFI share "common pragmatic objectives".[38]
The PS initially ruled out talks with LFI, before joining the talks on 27 April; the talks were again suspended on 29 April.[39][40] The PS leader Olivier Faure negotiated with LFI in its headquarters on 2 May.[39] A day later, Manuel Bompard, the negotiator for LFI, said that negotiations between the parties had been "difficult on merits and on the constituencies".[41] On 4 May, the PS came to an agreement in principle with the coalition,[42][43] subject to a vote by the party's national council the next day.[44][45][46] The national council ratified the agreement on 5 May.[22][23][47] After the PS was admitted, the NPA announced that it would not formally join the coalition but said it would support more radical left-wing NUPES candidates.[27]
2022 French legislative election
[edit]In the first round of the 2022 French legislative election, NUPES finished either second (per the Ministry of the Interior) or first (per Le Monde), slightly behind or ahead of Ensemble (25.75%–25.66% per the Ministry of the Interior and 26.1%–25.9% per Le Monde).[48] This was because some NUPES candidates had not had their affiliation registered by the Ministry of Interior,[49] which French media took in consideration.[50] Four LFI candidates were elected in the first round, the most of any party or coalition, and 386 NUPES candidates qualified for the second round;[51][52][53] of the over 70 dissident candidates, 15 qualified for the second round.[9]
After the second round, NUPES was forecast to win 149 seats,[54] resulting in a hung parliament and the loss of an absolute majority for Macron's Ensemble.[55] As NUPES was only an electoral agreement and each party is expected to form its own parliamentary group, it did not become the largest parliamentary opposition group.[56] As with the first round, several news outlets, such as Le Monde, gave a different result as to the final seat count, with NUPES on 142 rather than 131 due to differences as to candidates, particularly in the French overseas constituencies, being classified as members of these alliances or not.[57]
Electoral results and aftermath
[edit]Depending on the method of calculation, NUPES won either 131 seats (according to the Ministry of the Interior) or 142 (according to Le Monde),[b] enough to deny Macron's Ensemble Citoyens coalition a parliamentary majority and to form the formal opposition in Parliament. The coalition performed worse than most polls between the first and second round indicated, and the far-right National Rally (RN) gained 89 seats, its best result ever.[17]
Fabien Roussel, leader of the PCF, said of the results: "[NUPES] didn't allow us to have a majority, and it didn't prevent the far right from making strong progress either, and that calls out to me, that questions me ... I can see that the alliance only speaks to part of France, to that of the big cities, and not to that of rurality." He also praised the alliance for having led the French Left to win far more seats than in the 2017 French legislative election.[58]
The day after the election, LFI's Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the results were "disappointing" and called for a united NUPES parliamentary group, as no individual party in NUPES exceeded the 89 seats won by the RN, and official opposition could fall to the RN if NUPES was unable to form a larger parliamentary group.[59] The leaders of EELV, PCF, and PS announced that they were opposed to a unified group in parliament.[60] Mélenchon said that he would not take part in talks with Macron for government, while leaders of two NUPES parties, the PS leader Olivier Faure and the PCF's Roussel, stated that they would do so.[61] LFI requested a vote of no confidence to be held on 5 July,[62] but did not pass with only NUPES voting for it.[63]
Despite the formation of separate groups in the National Assembly, NUPES voted as a bloc to elect Éric Coquerel of LFI President of the Finance Committee, defeating candidates from RN and The Republicans. The post of President of the Finance Committee traditionally goes to the largest opposition group in parliament.[64][65]
Election of René Pilato
[edit]In the 2022 election in Charente's 1st constituency, NUPES candidate René Pilato lost to presidential majority incumbent Thomas Mesnier by 24 votes. The election was deemed invalid in December 2022 due to irregularities.[66] A by-election was held in January 2023, which led to Pilato winning by slightly under 500 votes over Mesnier, a gain for NUPES at the expense of the presidential majority.[67]
Quatennens Affair
[edit]In September 2022, French newspaper Le Canard enchaîné published an article revealing that Adrien Quatennens, national co-ordinator of LFI and MP had been accused of domestic violence by his wife.[68] Following this revelation, an investigation was opened by the Lille police.[69] In a press release Quatennens admitted to having slapped his wife once, before backtracking and describing a multitude of events of "extreme mutual tension" that led to him grabbing her wrist, elbowing her or sending excessive amounts of text messages. Following these revelations, he resigned from his post as LFI co-ordinator but remained an MP.[70] On the 26th of September, Quatennens' wife officially pressed charges.[71] This caused large amounts of tension within the NUPES with a lot of criticism being directed towards LFI, particularly because other sexual misconduct allegations had been directed towards Éric Coquerel and Taha Bouhafs earlier in the year, with the latter not even being able to stand in the legislative election.[72][73]
Many within the NUPES perceived LFI's inability to deal with the Quatennens Affair as a political fault, notably EELV MP Sandrine Rousseau. Furthermore, political analysts and commentators saw LFI's decision to maintain Quatennens as an MP as the movement turning its back on militants and younger generations.[74] An open letter published in Le Monde in December 2022, and signed by over one thousand militants and LFI supporters demanded the resignation of Quatennens and his withdrawal from politics.[75]
After pleading guilty to the charges against him,[76] Quatennens was convicted to four months of prison with surcharge and a 2000 euro fine.[77] Following this, he was excluded from the LFI-NUPES parliamentary group and sat as a non-inscrit until his reintegration into the group in April 2023, with the decision to welcome him back into the group sparking debate throughout both the NUPES and the LFI group itself.[78]
Bayou Affair
[edit]Simultaneously, alongside the Quattennens Affair, a similar case erupted involving EELV national secretary Julien Bayou. In July 2022, it was reported to the EELV internal cell for violence and sexual harassment that Bayou had been carrying out behaviour of "psychological violence and harassment" towards women in his entourage.[79] On the 20th of September, in the midst of the Quatennens Affair, Bayou resigned from his post as co-president of the EELV parliamentary group and from his position as EELV national secretary.[80] According to French magazine Marianne, this came as a result of internal pressure from prominent EELV member Sandrine Rousseau.[81]
Following Bayou's resignation, he has stayed relatively quiet in the media, though he remains an MP and continues to sit with the EELV parliamentary group at the National Assembly. Following the 2022 EELV party congress, Marine Tondelier was elected national secretary with 90.8% of votes.[82]
Many journalists and political commentators saw the large of number of allegations directed towards NUPES members as discrediting the political union.[83]
Tensions with the Communist Party
[edit]As early as September 2022, tensions began to arise between the NUPES and Communist Party national secretary Fabien Roussel,[84] with many left-wing commentators seeing Roussel as too "right-wing" with some newspapers calling him "the right's favourite communist."[85] Further tensions arose in 2023 after Roussel called Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin a friend and stated that they have "known [each other] for a long time."[86] This came after weeks of extreme violence between protestors and police in the wake of the 2023 pension reform.[87]
More tensions arose in April 2023 after Roussel called the NUPES an "outdated" electoral coalition that "had failed." He also expressed his desires to extend the coalition notably to former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, an ardent critic of the NUPES.[88] This led to disagreements within the Communist Party, notably with MPs Sébastien Jumel and Pierre Dharréville.[89] These statements were also met with criticism from LFI who issued a press-statement directed at Roussel. During a speech at the 2023 Communist Party congress, where he was re-elected with 80.4% of votes,[90] Roussel replied to LFI and NUPES saying "I say it clearly and in fraternity, mind your own business!"[91]
Socialist infighting and election of Martine Froger
[edit]In January 2023, the Socialist Party held its 80th congress in Marseille. Olivier Faure, incumbent first secretary was re-elected with 51.09% of the vote.[92] Nonetheless, both Faure and challenger, Rouen mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol would each claim that they had won,[93] making it unclear who the true winner was for a couple of days. In the end, a collective leadership agreement was agreed upon and Mayer-Rossignol was appointed delegate national secretary.[94]
A soft critic of the NUPES, Mayer-Rossignol's race for national secretary was supported by a number of the party's "elephants" notably Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, anti-NUPES figure Carole Delga[95] and former President François Hollande.[96]
On 27 January 2023, the Constitutional Council of France ruled the re-election of LFI MP Bénédicte Taurine as unconstitutional as a result of contentious ballots from the RN candidate, triggering a by-election.[97] Despite the national direction of the Socialist Party offering their support to Taurine, the local federation alongside the Radical Party of the Left chose to support dissident Socialist candidate Martine Froger.[98] Both candidates made it to the second round of voting, and Froger benefited from the support of the Renaissance and RN candidates who called to "make barrage" against Taurine. Furthermore, former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve joined Froger in the constituency, offering her his support.[99] Froger was elected with 60.2% of the vote and was congratulated in person by Mayer-Rossignol and Carol Delga, against the wishes of both the NUPES and the Socialist Party leadership.[100] To date no sanctions have been taken against Mayer-Rossignol and other members of the Socialist Party.
Once elected, Froger caused further tension within the NUPES with the question of her seating in the Socialist Parliamentary Group posing a problem for some, with many not seeing it fit that she sit within the NUPES intergroup. Some suggested that she sit with the centrist LIOT group alongside other dissident socialists.[101]
Socialist Party suspension
[edit]In the aftermath of Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent Israel–Hamas war, the Socialist Party voted 54%–46% for a "moratorium" on participating in the alliance due to LFI's refusal to explicitly denounce Hamas as a terrorist organization. The result of the vote was announced on 18 October 2023.[18] Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure reiterated his support for a broad union of the French left, but called Jean-Luc Mélenchon an "obstacle to unity." Mélenchon posted on Twitter that Faure had led the suspension of the Socialist Party due to "personal reasons" between the two.
Members
[edit]The initial agreement, struck on 1 May 2022, brought together La France Insoumise and its allies together with a grouping of ecologist parties,[102][103] including Europe Ecology – The Greens, Ecology Generation, Génération.s, and The New Democrats.[104][105] On 3 May, the French Communist Party agreed to join the alliance,[37][106] followed by the Socialist Party and Place Publique on 4 May.[107] On 20 May, New Deal announced its endorsement of the coalition.[33]
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Former members
[edit]On 16 October 2022, The New Democrats merged to Europe Ecology – The Greens.[108]
| Party | Abbr. | Ideology | Political position | Leader(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The New Democrats | ND | Social liberalism Environmentalism | Centre-left | Aurélien Taché Émilie Cariou | |
Candidates 2022
[edit]| Party or bloc | Constituencies | Proportion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| La France Insoumise and associated parties (La France Insoumise, Left Party, Ensemble!, Picardie debout, Ecological Revolution for the Living) | 326 | 56.50% | |
| Ecologist Pole | Europe Ecology – The Greens | 80 | 13.86% |
| Génération.s | 9 | 1.56% | |
| Ecology Generation | 9 | 1.56% | |
| The New Democrats | 2 | 0.35% | |
| Total | 100 | 17.33 % | |
| Socialist Party | 70 | 11.96 % | |
| French Communist Party | 50 | 8.84% | |
| Undeclared (outre-mer and Corsica) | 31 | 5.55 % | |
| Total | 577 | 100 % | |