Ex-president Francois Hollande makes surprise comeback in French election
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Former French president Francois Hollande (right) at a press conference to announce his candidacy in France's upcoming elections.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS – Former French Socialist president Francois Hollande on June 15 said he would run for Parliament again, the latest political twist following his successor Emmanuel Macron’s surprise decision to call snap legislative elections
Mr Macron’s dissolving of Parliament after the French far right’s victory in European parliamentary elections has swiftly redrawn the lines of French politics
A new left-wing alliance has emerged and the main right-wing party’s leader has announced he is prepared to back an alliance with the far right, sparking infighting within his political family.
On June 15, police estimated that a quarter of a million people protested across France against the prospect of the far right coming to power.
But the latest polls still put the far right comfortably in the lead.
Mr Hollande, France’s president from 2012 to 2017, left office with record levels of unpopularity. He is hated by parts of the radical left and even the Socialist leadership regards him with suspicion.
He said he will stand as an MP for the south-western Correze department for the New Popular Front, a left-wing union for the elections including Socialists, the hard-left, Greens and communists.
“An exceptional decision for an exceptional situation,” Mr Hollande told reporters in the department’s main town of Tulle, describing his comeback.
“I am not seeking anything for myself,” he insisted, after a flurry of recent media appearances sparked speculation he might be eyeing a run for the presidency. “I just want to be of service.”
He has already backed the new broad left-wing union, saying that we “must all do everything to make sure the far right does not come to power in France”.
Officially, the Socialist Party reacted coolly to the move, with the head of its election commission Pierre Jouvet simply saying that it “takes note” of the candidacy.
But one senior party figure, asking not to be named, said the party was “devastated” by the news, while admitting: “We said we wanted the broadest possible left wing.”
The elections were called by Mr Macron after the far right trounced his own centrist ruling party in the European elections in June, recording more than double its vote.
The first round is set for June 30, and the second on July 7.
Protests against far right
Throughout France on June 15, demonstrators mobilised against the prospect of a victory for the far right and the possibility that National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella, 28, could become prime minister.
“I thought I would never see the far right come to power, and now it could happen,” said Ms Florence David, 60, who took part in the Paris protest.
The new left-wing coalition faced its first crisis on June 15 after some prominent MPs from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party found they had not been put forward to stand again.
Many had at some point disagreed publicly with LFI figurehead Jean-Luc Melenchon, and they and their supporters inside the new alliance denounced a “purge”.
In an interview with newspaper 20 Minutes, Mr Melenchon said no one was guaranteed a seat for life, adding: “Political coherence and loyalty in the first left-wing parliamentary group are also a requirement to govern.”
But there was anger too that Mr Adrien Quatennens, a close ally of Mr Melenchon, was on the list of candidates despite a 2022 conviction for domestic violence.
Another former president, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, stepped into the row over the decision of Mr Eric Ciotti, the leader of the right-wing Republicans party, to seek an election pact with the RN.
Mr Ciotti’s move provoked fury inside the party and a move by its leadership to dismiss him, which a Paris court blocked on June 14.
Mr Sarkozy told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that Mr Ciotti should have consulted the party leadership over the coalition and put it to a members’ vote. “Then the question could have been settled calmly and clearly,” he said.
But he doubted the wisdom of such an alliance, saying the Republicans would be the junior partners.
What is more, he said, prospective prime minister Bardella “has never been in a position to manage anything”.
Hours after French football star Marcus Thuram called on voters to stop the far right coming to power, the French Football Federation on June 15 called for everyone to respect its “neutrality”.
Two days ahead of their opening match at the European Championship in Germany, the federation called on everyone to “avoid any form of pressure and political use of the French team”. AFP
