Jean-Luc Melenchon, a union of left-wing parties (Nupes), has been elected president of the Finance Commission of France’s National Assembly. This is one of the most contested positions in the lower house. Marine Le Pen’s National Regroupment formed Marine Le Pen. They believe it was their right to vote the most among the opposition.
After obtaining 21 votes, the deputy of La Francia Insumisa Eric Coquerel will hold the position. Veronique Louwagie is the candidate for The Republicans (moderate left), with 11 votes.
Coquerel was the popular candidate for the New Popular Ecologist and Social Union. He was his favorite, though he feared that other acronyms would join him in opposition. This did not happen.
Le Pen has taken her head in her hands. The far-right leader stated that the right has chosen the most extreme and sectarian left. It is “disturbing” to her that such a sensitive commission is held by La Francia Insumisa. She also blames the Republicans for allowing it to happen.
The Finance Commission is a counterweight to the Chamber. It examines all Budget projects, monitors the State accounts and has access confidential information. All opposition parties have opted for it as their leader.
National Regrouping is the main opposition party with 89 out of 577 National Assembly deputies. La Francia Insumisa has 75 deputies. The presidency of the finance committee, which is traditionally held by the opposition, is in the hands the party with most seats. The 150-deputies strong union of leftist parties presented a common candidate for the defeat of the extreme right.
Le Pen’s party will not be leaving empty-handed, regardless of what. Two of the six vice-presidency positions have been secured by him. La Nupes denounces the fact that he was able to do it because of the moderate right and government coalition.
Le Pen lost the April presidential elections against centrist Emmanuel Macron. However, he achieved an “electoral wave” in the legislative elections of the 19th. According to Jordan Bardella (interim president of National Regroupment), He won 8 seats in 2017.
His party’s normalization strategy, which Le Pen started a decade ago, is still working. The current National Assembly deputies of 89 and the 19 Brussels MEPs show this. In order to avoid being called National Front, he changed the name of the party to National Regrouping. To soften his rhetoric, he also expelled Jean-Marie Le Pen his father and most radical members. He wanted to make the party more appealing to French public opinion, and to position it as an alternative to Macron.
This normalization also contributed to Eric Zemmour’s irruption in the presidential election. His outbursts made Le Pen appear moderate to public opinion.
This electoral success is also explained by the end of the cordon sanitaire that was used against extreme right. In the past elections, when a candidate reached the second round, all his rivals joined forces against him. They declared, “Not a vote.” The instructions weren’t so clear this time.
Le Pen promised that he would make “a firm, but responsible opposition.” This is to say, he will be respectful of institutions>> He announced that his first law proposal would be against Islamism. Bardella says he is already looking forward to the 2027 presidential election.