Centrists form alliance with Macron’s party for legislative vote

French President Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique en March (LREM) party has formed a coalition with two other centrist parties for the June parliament elections.

The announcement was made on Thursday by Richard Ferrand, an LREM member and the parliament chairman, before a conference with the two parties.

LREM will coordinate which candidates it presents with the centrist Modem party, which supported Macron in the 2017 elections, and with the Horizons party set up by Macron’s former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

The agreement comes days after left-wing and green parties made an alliance for the June elections in the hope to block Macron’s party from winning a majority in parliament following Macron’s re-election as president.

On Monday, Jean-Luc Melenchon’s far-left LFI movement struck separate deals with France’s green EELV party, Socialist Party and the Communists to form a joint front against Macron in the parliamentary elections.

The parties agreed not to compete against each other in the two rounds of voting on June 12 and 19.

Melenchon wants to “disobey” the European Union’s rules on budget and competition issues and challenge its free-market principles. He also wants France to leave NATO.

Melenchon came in third in April’s presidential election and barely missed the runoff behind far-right populist Marine Le Pen.