France’s left is in a sorry state. It took a bashing in local elections in March and then European elections in May. The ruling socialists plunged to an all time low of less than 14%. The radical Front de Gauche, comprising the communists and other leftists like Jean Luc Melenchon, polled just 6.3%, down from […]
Posts Tagged ‘Jean-Luc Mélenchon’
The battle for France’s national industry jewel
May 3rd, 2014 by Tom Gill.France has been in a state of shock since it was revealed last week the company that built the high speed TGV train and steam turbines for EDF’s nuclear reactors was about to be taken over by the yankees. Things scarcely improved when a desperate Paris sought to bring in the Germans for an alternative […]
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Alexis Tsipras backs mass demonstration in Paris against austerity
Apr 14th, 2014 by Tom Gill.Thousands of people protested in Paris on Saturday calling for a change in the austerity policies of President Francois Hollande. The Front de Gauche, whose principle components are the French Communist Party (PCF) and the Parti de Gaunche, led the demonstration that declared “Hollande, enough!” and rallied “against austerity” and for “equality and the redistribution of […]
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Hollande pays price for austerity in French municipal elections
Mar 31st, 2014 by Jon Lansman.It was a disastrous weekend for François Hollande and the French Socialist party (PS) as the mainstream right party, the Gaullist/neoliberal Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), claimed victory and Marine Le Pen’s far-right Front Nationale (FN) also made significant gains. Leaders of the PS left faction, Maintenant la gauche, Senator Marie- Noëlle Lienemann and MP Jerome Guedj, are […]
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Is the Front de Gauche of Jean-Luc Mélenchon about to break up?
Feb 17th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.There are signs this week that the Front de Gauche founded by former Socialist (PS) Senator Jean-Luc Mélenchon may be in terminal trouble. It seems that Pierre Laurent, leader of the Communist PCF, and Mélenchon are not on speaking terms. Communist sources claim that Mélenchon makes all decisions without consultation and expects others to fall in line, whilst […]
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Why French radicals are marching – Interview with Mélenchon
May 8th, 2013 by Tom Gill.As French radicals march in Paris Sunday against the austerity policies of Socialist President Hollande, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, co-leader of the Left Party and last year’s Presidential election candidate for the radical Left Front, argues for a broad popular front of resistance. Interview by French Communist daily Humanite: Francois Hollande’s poll rating is very low. How do […]
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon: for an alternative to austerity in Europe
Feb 23rd, 2013 by Newsdesk.Jean-Luc Mélenchon was recently in London and spoke to a packed hall at UCL, comprising not only many members of the Front de Gauche living in London but quite a few Labour Party members and others from the British left. For those who weren’t there, and for those who were but whose understanding was not […]
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Respect & UKIP after Rotherham & Croydon: Part 1 – Respect’s last gasp
Dec 3rd, 2012 by Jon Lansman.Last week, Labour, under Iain McNicol’s effective management, mounted an impressive campaign to defeat the perceived threat in Croydon and Rotherham by-elections from Respect. Though Labour’s continuing failure to develop an anti-austerity strategy and thoroughly reconnect with working class voters still leaves it exposed to some future threat from the left, it won’t come from […]
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Europe needs a citizens’ revolution, declare Lafontaine and Mélenchon
Nov 23rd, 2012 by Newsdesk.The following declaration was yesterday issued by Oskar Lafontaine, who has previously been German finance minister, chair of the SPD and co-chair of Die Linke (Left Party), and Jean Luc Mélenchon, the Presidential Candidate for France’s Front du Gauche: We note with dismay the use made of the European Union as a tool of widespread austerity. […]
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Hollande ‘guts’ 75% wealth tax?
Sep 7th, 2012 by Tom Gill.France’s Socialist President Francois Hollande’s key ‘soak the rich’ 75% tax pledge has been drastically watered down, according to Le Figaro which doesn’t reveal its source. The tax won’t apply to rich couples. And it will only apply to income, not property or financial assets. A single person will be taxed if he earns more than […]
