00:00Now, the political parties vying to win the seats in the second round of France's local elections
00:06have until tonight to finalise any alliances and to decide if any of the candidates will pull out
00:12and perhaps urge their voters to support someone else.
00:15Negotiations between the two rounds have been in full swing after the first round last weekend,
00:20which across the country marked advances for both the far right and the far left in France.
00:25In Paris, the left-wing candidate largely leading the race,
00:29but with the final runners in the second round undecided,
00:31it remains unclear if he remains set to win in the second round.
00:35Well, let's digest all that for you.
00:37Clovis Casali is with us once again, who, as I'm sure you know, follows French politics very much for us.
00:42Good to have you with this, Clovis.
00:43These deals between France unbowed and the socialists particularly, very controversial, aren't they?
00:49And why? Because France unbowed, the radical left party, the far left party of Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon,
00:54is accused by many here in France of complacency over anti-Semitism,
00:59also of complacency over Russia and, moreover, of its stealing of authoritarian regimes.
01:07MĂ©lenchon is fiercely anti-US, what he calls colonialism, globalism.
01:14And Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon has also used a very aggressive rhetoric over the past few months,
01:21even years, one could argue, against the socialists who were once his partners.
01:27So the Socialist Party, not really keen to make any kind of deal with Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon,
01:32because it could bring back, it could bring bad publicity for them,
01:36and also make them lose some more centrist voters, let's say.
01:41Tell us where the cities, that there are no deals, then.
01:44Interesting. Cities where there are no deals. Big ones.
01:48Lille, north of France, Marseille, south of France, and here in the capital, Paris.
01:54In Lille, there has been a deal decided in the last few hours between the Socialists and the Green Party,
02:03much to the dismay of the radical far left of Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon.
02:07In Marseille, very tight race. The person who's finished first is Benoît Payon.
02:13He is a socialist. He's refusing to make a deal with the far left,
02:19even though the tightest race with the French far right.
02:24So Benoît Payon taking many risks, but he just doesn't want to be associated to the far left.
02:30And then in Paris, Grégoire, Emmanuel Grégoire, we were talking about him just minutes ago.
02:3538% of the votes. He is finishing way ahead of the second, Rashida Dati,
02:40the right-wing former culture minister of Emmanuel Macron.
02:44Rashida Dati, only 24% or so.
02:48But she's getting into an alliance with the centre-right Pierre-Yves Bournazel,
02:54so that's going to help her.
02:56Emmanuel Grégoire saying no to the far left.
02:59He's not making any alliance with the far left, Sofia Chiquirou,
03:04which means that she is likely to still stand in the runoff.
03:08She could make him lose or get some votes that otherwise would go to the socialists.
03:15Emmanuel Grégoire still tipped to win.
03:18It is going to be very tight, but he's ready to run the risk without the radical left.
03:22Let's take a listen to Emmanuel Grégoire this morning on radio station France Inter
03:26talking about the far left.
03:31Sofia Chiquirou has done everything to prevent the few discussions that could have been.
03:36She's spent her time fighting us.
03:38You have to be coherent.
03:39And I'm aware of the fact that voters on the left feel a little lost today
03:43between those who are demanding to combine,
03:45to protect Paris against the right,
03:47and those who are demanding not to combine in the name of principles and values.
03:51We're living through it all.
03:54Emmanuel Grégoire there.
03:56Also many towns where there are deals, though, aren't there?
03:59Clovis between the socialists and far left France unbound.
04:02What are these towns?
04:03Toulouse, Nantes, Avignon, Limoges, Grenoble.
04:07These are big towns known around the world for various reasons.
04:12Traditionally, you usually have an alliance between left-wing parties
04:16to prevent a far-right victory.
04:19It's what we call the Republican Wall.
04:21This time, it's even to prevent, like, centre-right victories.
04:26But this time, what's problematic is that relations are so bad
04:30between the left-wing and the far left of Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon, France unbound,
04:35that these alliances, these blocs, are causing controversy.
04:41You have socialist leaders, former President François Hollande,
04:44but also the party leaders here in Paris, saying,
04:47don't make a deal with the radical left.
04:50They have been complacent over anti-Semitism, over Russia.
04:54You just can't trust them.
04:56And also, they've been aggressive towards us during the campaign.
05:00Why should we make any deal with the radical or far left of Jean-Luc MĂ©lenchon?
05:05But locally, the reality is very different.
05:08And a lot of these politicians in Toulouse, Nantes, Avignon, Limoges, Grenoble
05:12are being pragmatic.
05:14And here, it's prevailing over ideology and manifestos.
05:19So, yes, it's creating a lot of divisions within left-wing ranks.
05:24But apart from Lille, Marseille and Paris, many other parts of France,
05:29while the socialists are making alliances with the far left.
05:33Yeah, they're making alliances.
05:34There's a lot of decisions to be made, not just amongst the politicians,
05:37but our own voters as well.
05:38And with the presidential election coming up next year,
05:40all of these elections, that's why it's so fascinating to watch,
05:43because it's paving the way for that presidential election.
05:46Alliances, who will be standing with who?
05:48Who will be candidate?
Comments