Juliette Jabkhiro & Mark John

LILLE (France) – Emmanuel Macron won the support of France’s left-leaning voters, at least temporarily. It is now up to him to keep the majority of his supporters onboard to ensure he has enough to get the strong majority of parliament members he requires to run a successful presidency.

As Jean-Luc Melenchon seeks to attract them to his camp, their heart and minds will play a crucial role in next month’s National Assembly election.

Quentin Guenard is a 19 year-old Lille law student who supported Macron “without being an fervent supporter”, but is currently toying with the idea to vote for Melenchon.

Guenard stated to Reuters: “I’m totally torn.” He said it was a match-up between Macron’s centrist movement, and Melenchon’s left-leaning La France Insoumise(France Unbowed).

He said, “I hope Emmanuel Macron will hear some of his ideas,” and urged notably a stronger focus on climate protection and welfare.

France’s dual-tiered political system means that the election of parliamentary representatives is almost as important as the selection of the president.

The president is the one who sets the direction for the country. However, the results of the parliamentary vote decide the composition of the government. It can also force the president to form a coalition with an opponent prime minister.

Macron and his close allies should win the majority, according to theory. Harris Interactive’s poll of this week revealed that Macron can form a middle-right alliance with other parties in order to secure a majority.

Melenchon is a potential fly in Macron’s eye, and he may be able to bring together France’s various left-wing groups – from ecologists and communists to the once-dominant mainstream Socialist Party.

TOO RARE FOR SOME?

Egos or vested interest could continue to make it hard for left-wing electoral deals. Anne Hidalgo (the Socialist candidate that was badly defeated) said this week that some form of “new left” is required.

Some left-leaners may find Melenchon’s policies too rigid for them: His programme would restore wealth taxes and cap inheritances. It also limits the rights of companies to pay dividends and layoff workers.

Lille, which is left-leaning bastion with a socialist mayor since decades, will prove to be a testing ground.

Apart from fear of rising living costs, which was the main theme in the presidential election campaign, left-leaning voters also want to see more progress on issues such as gender equality and tackling violence against police officers.

Some Macron’s ideas, however, don’t go down well with leftists, like raising the retirement age, or tightening the rules regarding jobless benefits.

Marianne Batteux (20 years old), a Lille student in politics, said that she doesn’t know which candidate she will vote for in June. She voted first for Melenchon before changing to Macron to stop Marine Le Pen.

“Melenchon is a major figure in French politics. Batteux expressed her belief that “he has the capacity to bring people in,” but said she thought it was “a fantasy”.

Harris poll found that left-leaning parties would be able to reach 93 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly. Macron has a cushion of support if the centre can be united around him, with the far-right winning up to147 seats.

France’s dysfunctional party system makes it difficult to predict the future. Even mainstream conservatives are in turmoil after their candidate for president did so much she can not seek reimbursement from state funds for millions of euro campaign expenses.

Macron was already reaching out to the left in his victory speech on election night. He pledged a break from the previous term and a fresh approach that “would leave no one behind”.

He is still clinging to French nostalgia about the central planning which rebuilt France after World War Two. However, he also stated that he would charge his next prime Minister with making France nuclear-reliant the first major economy to leave fossil fuels.

Some pro-Macron activists have tried to convince left-leaning voters, in fact, that their support for offshore wind energy and the European Union goal to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050 were signs of Macron’s green credentials.

Mathieu Vargart-Soler, Jeunes Avec Macron (Youth With Macron) campaign group stated that they are telling Macron “the real ecologist”

However, some supporters of the Eiffel tower victory rally on Sunday may need some convincing.

“He spoke about (ecology) at the beginning but then didn’t make it a priority,” English teacher Myriam Perounnet said.