The Party of the European Left calls for transnational unity as La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Sumar President Yolanda Díaz argue that offering a solid social programme is the key to fighting the right-wing parties in the next EU elections. Mélenchón praised Díaz’s work as Spain’s Labour Minister, while both leaders discussed how to face the right-wing surge in Europe during a conference hosted by the French radical left party in Valence on Thursday. “We need to study them [far-right] in-depth, their programmes, their ideas”, Díaz said, adding that “we need to take them seriously”.
The best tool to gather people’s support is to present “a social programme” that shows people the left camp can improve their lives, said Díaz, referring to Spain’s progressive labour policies like increasing the minimum salary from €641 to €1,080. She said this would give citizens a practical example of how voting Sumar could benefit them directly. “We cannot win if we do not have a programme of progress for society”, Mélenchon added while arguing that the right wing drops their electoral promises and that the left should instead defend their programmes “until the end”.
Faced with a “junction between right and far-right”, NUPES and Sumar – coalitions of progressive parties in France and Spain, respectively – “are the two positions throughout Europe of the radical left that are the most advanced in the face of a general wave of right-wing and far-right alliances”, he said. Along the same lines, MEP María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (Podemos/EU left) said on X, formerly Twitter, that “Europe needs progressive alternatives of unity such as Sumar in Spain and NUPES in France”.
European Left calls for unity
Only La France Insoumise is affiliated with the only European leftist party, the Party of the European Left. As for Sumar, it remains to be seen whether it will enter the party too, as the European Green Party is heavily courting Díaz to join their ranks. Facing an increasing right-wing camp and seeing the left wing’s need for mobilisation, the Party of the European Left called for unity during its General Assembly on 24 June. “We call for unity and convergences based on common answers to social and democratic demands,” the motion reads.
Acknowledging the “historical” divisions of left-wing parties across Europe and the difficulty of uniting them, the party affirms that “the different families of the left are complementary to each other”, arguing there is more uniting them than separating them. The party also sets itself as a platform for dialogue between all member parties ahead of EU elections, proposing a common manifesto to set the ground for the electoral campaign. As for the spitzenkandidat, the party vaguely calls its members to propose personalities that would represent the left as a whole and “able to unite us”.
Sumar seeks to enter European Parliament
On 2 April, Díaz announced her candidacy for the Spanish presidency with the Sumar platform, which brought together all political forces at the left of PSOE (S&D), hoping to counterbalance the rise of the right ahead of Spain’s snap elections on 23 July. Scoring 33 seats, the left-wing alliance became the country’s third political force after the elections, a success the party will try to replicate in the EU elections.
“Sumar is a long-term project that goes far beyond July 23rd”, Sumar spokesperson Carlos Corrochano told EURACTIV about the EU elections, adding that once the national government is settled, the party “will put all the machinery in motion to present the best possible project in June next year [EU elections]”. Currently, Sumar parties hold five seats in the European Parliament, four in the EU Left group and one in the Greens/EFA. “Sumar will probably have a presence in both families”, Corrochano said.
France’s left struggles with EU elections talks
Against the apparent unity of Sumar ahead of the EU elections, the French left is facing divisions after having united in the 2022 legislative elections under the banner of the NUPES coalition. The main bone of contention concerns the European elections in 2024. In this ballot, which is proportional, Mélenchon’s radical left-wing movement, La France Insoumise (LFI, La Gauche group), is insisting on having a single list with the ecologists (EELV), the socialists (PS) and the communists (PCF). The main argument is that the left can only come out on top if it is united.
Indeed, such a list would garner between 23% and 25% of the vote and would therefore be able to take first place, ahead of the far-right (Rassemblement national) and the centre (Renaissance). The Socialists, the Ecologists and the Communists each want to lead an independent list for each of their respective formations. EELV and the PCF have even already designated a list leader. To justify their choice, they point out the many differences of opinion on European issues.
For example, the PCF and LFI are highly critical of the current EU treaties, while EELV defines itself as federalist and the Socialists as pro-European. The various political leaders, particularly the socialists and ecologists, explain that the total score of the separate lists would be higher than that of a united list. In a poll published last June, conducted by IPSOS, the total of these four parties would exceed 32%. Under proportional representation, the French Left would have more seats than if it ran as a single party.
Source: EURACTIV
