Is Macron doomed? France driven to extremes as far-Left trails Le Pen in election polls
Left-wing forces in France, including communists, have come together to challenge Emmanuel Macron and Le-Pen's coalition of the Right.
France's most promiment Left-wing parties have come together to form the Nouveau Front Populaire or New Popular Front (NPF), in opposition to Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party.
Concerningly for the French president, the NPF's name is actually a nod to the 1936 Popular Front - formed to fight against fascism - suggesting that this new union of the Left may be more pre-occupied with Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) than Mr Macron's ailing party.
It is worth clarifying that RN is far removed from the fascism of the '30s. However, in the eyes of the NPF, RN are the target, not Macron's Renaissance.
It is RN that leads the polls on 33 percent, according to Politico. Renaissance are languishing on a meagre 19 percent. For NPF, which is a union of socialists, greens and bona fide communists, Le Pen is the obstacle to electoral success - they trail her party by just three points.
The feeling that Mr Macron's party is on borrowed time was clear from the NPF launch in Paris, as Green party leader Marine Tondelier remarked that "it's going to be either the far-Right or us" that form largest bloc in the National Assembly.
Mr Macron called the snap election, which comes just weeks before the Paris Olympics, in response to RN's astonishing performance in the June European Elections.
RN, whose lead candidate for the European Parliament was 28-year-old internet sensation Jordan Bardella, finished on 31.4 percent of the vote - more than double that of any other party. Bardella is tipped to become PM if RN win a majority.
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The French president was hopeful that he could halt RN's momentum by dissolving parliament and calling an election. However, it appears, if the polls are anything to go by, that France is dividing itself along extreme political lines rather than converging to the centre ground.
The NPF's new manifesto launch came after four days of intense negotiations. The most notable elements of the agreement was the plan to axe Macron's immigration and pensions reforms - the latter of which sparked mass protests when announced by the French president.
The NPF also pledged to "unfailingly defend the sovereignty and freedom of the Ukrainian people" and to provide Kyiv with arms.
