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The Origins
During the 1970s, the PS, the PCF and the Left-wing Radicals formed the "Union of Left" based on a Common Program (1972). But the policy of the PS leader François Mitterrand, elected President of France in 1981, did not correspond exactly to this programme, notably since 1983. One year later, the Communist ministers resigned. After that, the "Union of Left" was only a circumstantial electoral alliance.
After Mitterrand's re-election in 1988, the PS and the Left-wing radicals obtained a relative parliamentary majority. However, the PCF chosen to support or not the government in function of the policies it decided. In the same time, the PS tried an alliance with the center-right, in vain. It faced an electoral disaster in 1993. The former Prime Minister Michel Rocard, who took the lead of the PS, called a political "big-bang", that is to say a new attempt of alliance with the center-right. But the latter refused. Rocard lost the lead of the PS after his failure in the 1994 European Parliament election.
The PS prepared the 1995 presidential election, but it was so weakened to win without allies. Its candidate Lionel Jospin was supported by the PRG and the MDC. He got in touch with the new PCF leader Robert Hue and the Green candidate Dominique Voynet.
Indeed, in 1994, Hue succeeded to Georges Marchais at the head of the PCF. The Communist Party had lost the half of its voters since the 1970s. It fallen into disrepute after the split of the European Communist block and the Soviet Union. Hue wanted to renovate the party and to be not isolated.
The Greens, founded in 1984, benefited of the PS crisis at the beginning of the 1990s. However, its leader Antoine Waechter refused to integrate the party in the left/right cleavage. Without allies, the Greens can not was unable to gain seats and enter government. In 1993, Voynet, who favour an alliance with the left-wing parties, replaced Waechter.
Jospin lost the second round of the presidential election, but obtained a decent result. The 5 left-wing parties formed a coalition called the "Plural Left". The name was founded by the Socialist politician Jean-Christophe Cambadélis. It meant the PS wanted to respect its allies and not to impose its hegemony, what the other parties reproached it.
Jospin's government
In 1997, President Chirac dissolved the French National Assembly. Much to his surprise, the left won the legislative election. Jospin became Prime minister.
In his government, there were:
- 3 Communists (Jean-Claude Gayssot for the Transport ministry, Marie-George Buffet for the Youth and Sports ministry, Michelle Demessine for the Tourism ministry)
- 1 Green (Dominique Voynet for the Environment ministry)
- 2 Left-wing Radicals (Emile Zuccarelli for the Civil Service ministry, Jacques Dondoux for the External Trade ministry)
- 1 MDC (Jean-Pierre Chevènement for the Interior ministry)
All the other ministers were Socialists.
The End
In 2000, Jean-Pierre Chevènement resigned because of his opposition to negotiations with the nationalists of Corsica. Preparing his candidacy for the 2002 presidential election, he criticized the governmental policy and proposed to rally the "Republicans of the left and the right".
Futhemore, in 2001, the economic growth slowed down. The Communists and some Greens criticized a so moderate economic policy. The Economy ministers, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and later Laurent Fabius, were accused of being social liberals because of the privatisation of public companies. They claimed no main social reforms were done after the reduction of working time to 35 hours. The parliamentary majority was divided about the law to restrict the dismissals.
The presidential campaign focused on an alleged insecurity problem. In contrast to the right, the left-wing coalition was divided about this problem and had not a clear policy. Finally, those who were disappointed by the "Plural Left" voted for the Troskyist candidates (Arlette Laguiller, Olivier Besancenot, Daniel Gluckstein).
All the left-wing parties were represented by their candidates. In the first round, Jospin (PS) obtained 16.2%, Chevènement (MDC) 5.3%, Noël Mamère (the Greens) 5.2%, Hue (PCF) 3.4%, Christiane Taubira (PRG) 2.3%. Arriving in third position, Jospin was eliminated and no left-wing candidate entered the second round, leaving space for far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen. Two months later, the left lost the 2002 legislative elections.
In consequence, Jospin announced his political retirement. Hue stepped down the head of the PCF, replaced by Marie-George Buffet who attempted to continue the PCF's policy of opening towards social movements, including the alter-globalization movement. Chevènement failed to rally all the "Republicans" and founded a new left-wing party, the Citizen and Republican Movement (Mouvement républicain et citoyen or MRC). After an attempt to ally with a part of the far-left, the Greens returned finally in the parliamentary left.
References
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See also
- Couverture maladie universelle (CMU, a social welfare program)
- FNAEG, a government database registering DNA information
