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00:00Seven months after their previous alliance imploded, they stand together again, a group
00:07of French political parties calling themselves the Popular Front, unveiling their manifesto
00:14at a press conference in downtown Paris earlier.
00:18The Greens, Marine Tonelier speaking, and said it's either the far right or us.
00:24This ahead of the first round of legislative elections on June 30th.
00:29Take a listen.
00:33The pension reform law will be repealed in the first 15 days of our victory on July 7th.
00:38I am calling on all those that were against these reforms, those that marched with us,
00:43signed petitions with us, watched us fight in the National Assembly to bring down this
00:48law.
00:49We promised that we would never give up.
00:52People were here.
00:54They thought they won that match, but one never wins forever in politics.
00:59Our reporter Clovis Casali attended that press conference and we can speak to him now.
01:02Hello to you, Clovis.
01:04A lot of people took the microphone.
01:06Tell us about some of the notable takeaways you had from that press conference.
01:11Well, you just heard from Marine Tonelier, the boss of the Green Party.
01:17She said it was an emotional moment for her, a historic time, and no choice but to defeat
01:23the far right in France or else the country would be in danger.
01:28It's Manuel Bompard for the France Unbowed Party, the radical left who addressed the
01:33journalists first because his party is dominant in this left-wing bloc.
01:38And Manuel Bompard said there would be two main themes in this manifesto, peace on an
01:45international level, of course, with a full support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian
01:51aggression, and also everything would be done to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
01:57And then he said there was also questions regarding the purchasing power of the French
02:01people, very important for this left-wing bloc.
02:05And Manuel Bompard, like the rest of the left-wing parties in this coalition, say they want to
02:09block prices on food, on products of first necessity, as well as block the price of energy
02:17that has been rising, of course, in recent months.
02:23Manuel Bompard for France Unbowed said there were 150 measures altogether, and this was
02:28really a manifesto to break away from Emmanuel Macron and his government and policies they
02:35believe have damaged the purchasing power of the French people, as well as the general
02:40situation here in the country.
02:43And when asked how are you going to finance this, well, for the left-wing bloc, it's very
02:48simple, we will get the money where it is, and that is raise taxes for the richer parts
02:55of French society and have a special tax on the super profits, as it's called here, of
03:01some companies, companies who have made huge profits, notably during the COVID pandemic.
03:08We did not hear from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of France Unbowed.
03:12What role does he have in this alliance, Clovis?
03:15Well, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is the boss of France Unbowed, that radical left party I was telling
03:22you about, the party that has the most constituencies in this deal, because, of course, the left-wing
03:28bloc is going to be presenting one single candidate per constituency in order to stand
03:34a chance to win and get some kind of a majority in this legislative election.
03:39Jean-Luc Mélenchon, divisive figure, polarising one.
03:42He is not very much appreciated in the ranks of the Socialists, much of the Green Party,
03:49and André Glucksmann, who is the Socialist who is leading the Socialists in the European
03:56election, made it very clear this morning, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is not a consensual figure,
04:01therefore he can't be the candidate if the left-wing wins the elections.
04:07He can't be the next Prime Minister.
04:10You can see the action behind me.
04:12Take a look.
04:13You have all of these left-wing heavyweights responding, answering questions of journalists.
04:18We were there minutes ago, and I can tell you, all smiles here with these leaders.
04:24And in the salons of the venue, well, there's some kind of a cocktail going on with French
04:30politicians sipping red wine for some.
04:33It is France after all.