La Nupes threatened with dislocation, one year after its creation

Soon the first anniversary of the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) – May 4, if we take into account the date of the last signing of the agreement, that of the Socialist Party. For the left alliance, however, this is not the time to celebrate, among those, many, who express the idea that it is no longer possible to continue in the same way and plead for a “act II” with still vague contours, and the same, sometimes, which claim to want to widen the alliance but intend to leave alone for the European elections of 2024. For all the stakeholders, the time has come to take stock.

On Wednesday May 3, the 150 deputies of the coalition were to meet in a seminar. The evening before, for three hours, the party leaderships, including Manuel Bompard and Manon Aubry (La France insoumise, LFI), Marine Tondelier (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, EELV), Fabien Roussel (French Communist Party, PCF) and Olivier Faure (Socialist Party, PS), were together in Paris to learn the lessons of the battle for pensions and try to project themselves into the future.

Usually, the meeting of the Nupes parties takes place on Mondays and takes place by videoconference. For May 2, an appointment had been agreed, but without making it a particular event. It was counting without Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who promised, at the end of April, that this meeting ” at the top “ would allow “to begin phase 2 of the existence of this alliance, of this convergence, of this front that is Nupes” – an intervention regretted by ecologists and communists. The former presidential candidate set the tone, and forced everyone to position themselves.

“A camisole” for Roussel

At the start of the meeting, everyone, including LFI, gave their support to the PCF, whose stand was attacked by black blocs during the Paris parade on 1er-May. Everyone wanted the Nupes to be able to offer an outlet for the social movement that emerged in opposition to the pension reform. But, on the merits, each exposed its positions, already largely made public by way of press. In a dialogue “honest and direct”, some participants even evoke an atmosphere of ” family meeting “. A way of saying that things are sometimes tense.

Fabien Roussel thus considered that Nupes was “a cannonball, a camisole”. “We have to build something else”, he said. The PCF did not say yes to the principle of common lists at national deadlines. Which makes some participants say that the PCF should not stay very long inside the Nupes.

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