France's left-wing alliance against President Emmanuel Macron and his supporters was close to breakup Wednesday, with tensions erupting over responses to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reports FRANCE 24.
The Socialist Party (PS) – a heavyweight party of government just a few years ago but now a rump of its former self – voted overnight to "suspend" participation in the NUPES alliance with hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), Greens and Communists.
Its board accused LFI of "constantly stoking conflict" within the alliance, after former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his leadership circle refused to call Hamas's bloody October 7th assault on Israel a "terrorist" attack.
The largest left-wing party in France's 577-seat parliament, with 74 MPs, LFI's hard-charging style of total opposition to Macron and sometimes controversial stunts and remarks has often left its allies grinding their teeth.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure "is breaking up NUPES" over "a personal issue with me about Israel [and] Palestine," Mélenchon wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday morning in a message that later appeared to have been deleted.
Faure had earlier told Socialist leaders that Mélenchon "had been a unifying force, but today he has become an obstacle", calling for "radical change in the way we think about uniting" the left.
Yannick Jadot, former Greens presidential candidate, said that "we have to suspend our ties with LFI so long as they haven't strongly clarified their basic values".
French interior minister Gérald Darmanin said on Tuesday LFI lawmaker Daniele Obono should face a criminal investigation on suspicion of justifying terrorism after she described Hamas as a "resistance" movement.