They’ve beaten the far right. Now French parties need to learn to govern together.
| Paris
In the French political lexicon, the word compromis, meaning “compromise,” is often taken to be the equivalent of compromission, meaning “sellout.”
But for France to have a government at all today, compromise is what is needed.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onFrance staved off its most immediate crisis: a parliamentary takeover by the far right. Now it moves on to the next one: how to assemble a government in a fractured political landscape where “compromise” is a dirty word.
Sunday saw both the far-left Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) alliance and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble coalition come out ahead of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in France’s snap legislative elections, upending the expected results after the National Rally’s strong first-round showing.
But neither the NFP, which won 180 seats, nor Ensemble, with 158 seats, is anywhere near the threshold of 289 needed to form a government. That means that without some sort of deal between the two groups or their major players, France faces the prospect of a hung Parliament and political stagnation.
The question becomes whether France can learn from its limited experience with coalitions, and whether parties who have always campaigned against one another – often viciously – can find common ground.
“There needs to be some reflection in France,” says Hall Gardner, professor emeritus of political science. “It’s not going to work going forward without dialogue and compromise.”
Happiness and relief exploded on the streets of eastern Paris Sunday night, as voters cheered from balconies and honked their cars’ horns to celebrate the surprise win of France’s left-wing coalition in the country’s snap legislative elections.
“I loved hearing the shouts of joy in the streets … [but] it took me a minute to understand what was happening,” says Marie Ferrini, who joined neighbors in cheering from her window as the results were announced. “The idea of the left winning was completely out of the realm of possibilities for me.”
Grabbing 180 seats, the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) alliance surpassed all forecasts to pull ahead of both President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble coalition at 158 seats and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally with 143.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onFrance staved off its most immediate crisis: a parliamentary takeover by the far right. Now it moves on to the next one: how to assemble a government in a fractured political landscape where “compromise” is a dirty word.
In the nearby Stalingrad square, La France Insoumise (LFI) leader and de facto head of the NFP, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, told the nation that it was “an immense relief for a crushing majority” of voters who had helped stave off a far-right win. He called on Mr. Macron to listen to the people and “let the Nouveau Front Populaire govern.”
But absent from Mr. Mélenchon’s victory speech was talk of compromise or coalition. Despite the NFP’s plurality of seats, Mr. Macron is not obliged to name one of its leaders to the role of prime minister. With no party holding an absolute majority in Parliament – meaning no single bloc can form a government – France faces the prospect of a hung Parliament and political stagnation.
Unlike in its European neighbors, coalition governments are almost unheard of in France. But if opposition parties are unable to work together, it could have wide-ranging implications for both French and European stability. The question becomes whether France can learn from its limited experience with coalitions, and whether parties who have always campaigned against one another– often viciously – can find common ground.
“France only needs to look to its neighbors to see how to be a functioning European country,” says Hall Gardner, professor emeritus of political science at the American University of Paris. “There needs to be some reflection in France: it’s not going to work going forward without dialogue and compromise.”
Compromise vs. sellout
France remains a political outlier compared to much of Western Europe when it comes to coalition-style leadership. The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Italy all operate under multiparty coalitions, many of which run across left-right divides.
While France has experienced three episodes of “cohabitation,” in which the president and the prime minister were from opposing parties, the resulting leadership more often featured conflict than cooperation. And in the French political lexicon, the word compromis, meaning “compromise,” is often taken to be the equivalent of compromission, meaning “sellout.”
“Coalitions are not part of the French political tradition because of strongly conflicting priorities, especially between the left and right,” says Vincent Tournier, a political scientist at Sciences Po Grenoble. “Until now, the only coalitions we’ve seen are those within the left or right, and even there we’re seeing conflict.”
In addition to changing societal perceptions on political cooperation, France is at a fundamental disadvantage when it comes to a coalition style of government due to the foundations of its system.
France adheres to a two-round vote rather than proportional representation, in which parliamentary seats are determined in proportion to people’s electoral choices. That pushes many voters to make tactical choices at the ballot box and can result in winning candidates who don’t necessarily reflect the will of the nation.
And unlike in Germany or Italy, where the role of president is largely ceremonial, the French president holds significant power over foreign policy, the European agenda, and the overall direction of the country. The prime minister, in turn, manages the government and domestic policy. That division of power has implications for how readily political parties enter into partnerships.
“In order for a coalition to work, everyone has to have an incentive to enter it,” says Jacob Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Brussels. “But in France, everyone is trying to position themselves for the future presidential election so there is no incentive to cooperate with the opposition.
“If a coalition works well, your opponent can essentially take credit and use it as a platform later when they run for president.”
“Much longer bridges”
Despite its lack of historical significance, coalitions could still be a way forward for France. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal – who Mr. Macron has asked to remain in office for the time being to maintain the country’s stability – has hinted at a desire to reach across the aisle.
On Sunday night, he told the nation that backbiting would not win out. “I will never resign myself to the idea that our system will be narrowed down to three political blocks, where each one is hoping the other will disappear,” he said.
Observers say Mr. Attal could be in a position to facilitate some kind of agreement between parties, which would most likely exclude radical groups like Mr. Mélenchon’s LFI, the most extreme party in the NFP alliance. The agreement would instead include only the more moderate parties from the NFP and their counterparts from the moderate right.
Even in this scenario, however, “parties are going to have to build much longer bridges to meet one another,” says Emiliano Grossman, an associate professor of politics with the Center for European Studies at Sciences Po in Paris. “The idea is to build a project for [presidential elections in] 2027. The far right is not going away.”
But before any type of partywide cooperation can happen, Mr. Macron must choose a prime minister who will unite, not divide. Mr. Macron could effectively choose Mr. Attal to remain in his current position. But that may not sit well with voters who have withstood two rounds of surprise voting and finally made their voices heard – with a clear rejection of Mr. Macron’s bloc.
But even staunch left-wing supporters say divisive characters, like Mr. Mélenchon, won’t work as prime minister. Unless the new French government can find new ways to work together, in the form of coalitions or otherwise, it faces votes of no confidence and political paralysis.
“We need to ask ourselves as a society, what do we want for the years ahead?” says Sandra Reinflet, a left-wing activist who was at the Stalingrad square to hear Mr. Mélenchon on Sunday night. “Do we want equality or people fighting against one another? We need to re-center our values on those of the French Republic so we can live together peacefully.”
