France’s far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants left to lead government

After the left wing’s election success in France on Sunday, all eyes are now on radical firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has demanded the left be given the premiership and a chance to govern following its unexpected election win.

The New Popular Front (NFP) coalition — of which Mélenchon is the self-appointed figurehead — won the largest number of seats in the second round of France’s snap parliamentary election. Comprising Mélenchon’s far-left France Unbowed party, the Socialist Party, the French Communist Party as well as green, center-left and left-wing political groups, the NFP unexpectedly thwarted the far right’s advance and is now positioning itself as the possible leader of a coalition government.

“The president has the power, the president has the duty to call on the New Popular Front to govern. It is ready for it,” Mélenchon said Sunday night after exit polls projected the NFP’s win.

Europe had braced itself for France’s far right to win the largest number of votes in the second round of the country’s snap election. In the event, the left-wing NFP gained 180 seats, according to results published by broadcaster France Info, but still fell short of the 289 seats needed to have an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly. French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist “Together” bloc came in second with 163 seats and the far-right National Rally and its allies won 143 seats.

The results mean France is confronting a hung parliament Monday morning, with a difficult path ahead to forming a new government, or perhaps a technocratic government.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would tender his resignation following the election result, but Macron on Monday asked Attal to remain prime minister for the time being “in order to ensure the country’s stability,” Macron’s office said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Emboldened by the unexpected election victory, Mélenchon — who in the past has praised late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, said he’d take France out of NATO and proposed 100% tax rates on France’s super wealthy — insisted the new prime minister should come from the left-wing alliance.

Political analysts and economists say Macron is highly unlikely to give the divisive figure of Mélenchon the job.

“While tradition dictates that the largest party in parliament (in this case, the left-wing NFP coalition) proposes a prime minister, Macron is not obligated to pursue such an option,” Antonio Barroso, deputy…