French Elections Confirm: No One Likes The Far-Right

Despite bitter differences, leftists and centrists preferred to strategize together than allow the far-right to win.

France’s left alliance — the New Popular Front led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, comprising the Greens, LFI, Socialists and Communists — won the majority in the country’s snap election with 188 seats. Macron’s Ensemble alliance followed a close second with 161, while Le Pen’s National Rally came third with 142, in a major upset to early exit polls predicting a far-right victory. While this is a win for the left, Le Pen’s party still has nearly doubled the number of MPs in parliament compared to the party’s performance two years ago, further cementing its ideology in the government. “Tonight RN is the first party in France in terms of MP numbers,” Le Pen said, referring to the fact that the RN alone has more number of seats in the Parliament than any other single party, even if it was outnumbered by coalition blocs.

A strategic partnership between the left NPF and the centrist Ensemble alliances at the last minute kept the far-right from actually winning. On Sunday night, centrist and leftist voters reportedly took to the streets, chanting “No parasán!” or “they shall not pass” – an anti-fascist slogan dating back to the Spanish Civil War. Though the left alliance has the majority, however, of the three blocs – the left, the centre, and the far-right – no single one has the requisite 289 majority of 577 seats in parliament to form the government, leaving France with a hung parliament.

Despite the left’s electoral wins, the far right has consolidated more power across governments and international bodies. In the EU parliament, a far-right group sees a new alliance and president in 28 year old Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s protégé. The Patriots for Europe is a group that includes Hungarian Prime Minister’s Viktor Orbán’s party — Fidesz, the Oath and Motorists from the Czech Republic, Chega from Portugal and Voice of Reason from Greece, among several others. This takes the Patriots for Europe into the third largest bloc in the EU, as per the assembly’s rule of a minimum of 23 MPs requirement to form a group, Politico reported. Formal groupings such as this, gives them procedural and financial gains.

“If this government has created an environment where it is very easy to kill a great bulwark of the Dalit people in the capital city, it is frightening to think of other rural towns in Tamil Nadu.” - Pa Ranjith, Filmmaker, on TN BSP President K. Armstrong murder

On July 5th, Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party President K. Armstrong was murdered in Perambur, Chennai. Eight individuals have surrendered to the police, while three more have been arrested. The police, denying political or caste motives in the murder, have said that the accused suspected Armstrong’s role in another murder last year, and retaliated. BSP and Dalit leaders and activists, however, are challenging this claim, alleging that some of the arrested were not the ones captured on CCTV cameras.

A reputed Ambedkarite-Buddhist Leader, Armstrong was a professional advocate and former councillor of Chennai Corporation. In 2006, Armstrong stood for the local body elections and won as an independent candidate. A year later, he was appointed as President of the BSP in Tamil Nadu. Armstrong was widely known for his dedication to the local community, supporting Dalit youth in their education and professional pursuits in the North Chennai area.

In a statement on X, filmmaker and close friend of Armstrong Pa Ranjith criticised the police and the ruling DMK government’s handling of the case, and condemned the Madras High Court’s ruling against Armstrong’s wife Porkodi’s plea to bury his body at BSP party office. In the past, the DMK government allowed leader Vijayakant’s burial at the DMDK party office, per The News Minute. “Do you really care about Dalit people and Dalit leaders?” Ranjith asked the DMK.

Several Ambedkarite leaders and artists, including directors Mari Selvaraj and Vetrimaran, and BSP chief Mayawati, paid their last respects to Armstrong at a Perambur school on Sunday. Mayawati further demanded a CBI probe into the killing. Armstrong was laid to rest on Monday on private land in Pothur, Tiruvallur, in the Buddhist tradition, with TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai, VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan and Ranjith himself in attendance. The spot where Armstrong was killed still had his bloodstains, and was turned into a small memorial, TNIE reported.