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00:00The other side of the political spectrum here in France with our James André.
00:04James, you're at the headquarters of the Green Party, which is part of that new left-leaning
00:09coalition that was created just a few weeks before the first round of this election,
00:13the new Popular Front. What more can you tell us from there?
00:19Well, look, we have seen some action here when trucks arrived and unloaded some manifestos and
00:26flyers, probably also some posters for this flash campaign that's going to be very,
00:32very quick indeed, as you can imagine. And also while I'm at it, there will be a
00:37meeting and the concert tomorrow evening at République that has been called for,
00:43not by the party itself, but by the civil society in order to support this left-wing alliance.
00:50Now, what I can talk to you about is the campaign for candidates to step down in areas where they
00:57cannot really win. And yes, we've now reached the threshold of 200. 208 candidates have stepped down
01:05in the circumscriptions where there were three candidates left, three horse races,
01:09if you will, in order to block the arrival of the National Front to the government here in France.
01:18I was speaking to Marine Tendelier earlier on. She is the head of the Green Party. She was telling
01:22me that there is a path, a very small one, but there is a path to a majority by this new Popular
01:29Front. And she's hoping that indeed everyone will mobilize in order to achieve that majority.
01:34Now, James, one thing we don't know about for the left, at least at this point,
01:39is who might their prime minister be if they were to get in a majority, which does seem unlikely.
01:45Yes, exactly. This is what we call here in this new Popular Front the third round of the election.
01:52The decision that's been made is that the prime minister, if there was, if there is, a majority
01:59by the new Popular Front would be chosen amongst the ranks of the party that gets the most seats.
02:03Now, there are four parties, Communist Party, Socialist Party, Green Party and France Unbowed
02:08that compose this alliance. Now, it's true that here in France we've been hearing a lot about
02:12Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has been very vocal about how he would like that job for him. But he's also
02:19pushing forward some other members of his party since he's seen as very decisive. Here at the
02:23Green Party, there is indeed Marine Tendelier. Now, she is the one that has been chosen by the
02:29party to have the third debate, the third parliamentary debate on television facing
02:36Jordan Bardella and indeed Gabriel Attal. But Jordan Bardella would like to debate with
02:45Jean-Luc Mélenchon. We asked Marine Tendelier, this is what she had to say about this issue.
02:52From what I understand, Gabriel Attal isn't against this debate with me, but Jordan Bardella
02:56is against it with his entire being. Is he scared of us, of ecology, of women, all of the above?
03:02I don't know. I do know how they put their influence on the city, their good sides and
03:06their bad, their weaknesses. I know all of it and I think that scares them. That's how it is.
03:11In democracies, we don't choose who we debate with. The format is imposed. You can also tell
03:16why they want to debate Jean-Luc Mélenchon. They want to elevate him because it serves their
03:20narrative.
03:26As indeed Jordan Bardella would like Jean-Luc Mélenchon to be on that TV set simply because
03:33he is seen as a divisive figure. He does frighten a lot of French voters and it's indeed the new
03:40Popular Front is trying to cast him aside as a candidate for prime minister. But Jordan Bardella
03:46is indeed trying to peddle the idea that he would be the de facto new prime minister
03:50to frighten voters off. We'll see how this happens but in any case the new Popular Front
03:55for now is hanging on to Marine Tendelier taking part in that debate.