Amid ongoing controversy over Jean-Luc Mélenchon's remarks accused of antisemitism, the Socialist Party (PS) has urged La France Insoumise (LFI) militants to disavow him and ruled out second-round municipal election alliances, intensifying left-wing divisions ten days before the first round. Mélenchon decries the move as benefiting the far right.
The feud between La France Insoumise (LFI) and the Socialist Party (PS) boiled over on March 4, 2026, as France approached the first round of municipal elections. This follows Mélenchon's February 26 Lyon rally—held amid fallout from a far-right militant's death earlier that month—where he ironized over Jeffrey Epstein's name pronunciation, prompting widespread antisemitism accusations. A subsequent pun on MEP Raphaël Glucksmann's name in Perpignan further fueled criticism.
In response, the PS national bureau passed a resolution calling on LFI militants to locally distance themselves from Mélenchon's 'conspiratorial caricatures and intolerable antisemitic remarks,' which it said have 'deeply and deliberately divided the left.' The PS explicitly ruled out second-round deals with LFI, citing the movement's leadership drift.
Mélenchon fired back on X, labeling the PS stance an 'unbearable disavowal of the antifascist struggle' that mirrors far-right tactics and hands victories to the right and National Rally (RN) in key cities.
PS general secretary Pierre Jouvet told Public Sénat: 'I have no lessons to learn from a bourgeois on his couch, who makes antisemitism a common expression in much of his discourse.' He called Mélenchon 'the most hated politician in this country,' warning of broader left-wing marginalization.
LFI deputy leader Mathilde Panot countered on France Inter, deeming the PS approach 'a historic mistake' that lets 'the far right win by adversaries playing its frame.'
These clashes dim prospects for inter-round alliances crucial in cities like Toulouse and Marseille, where PS eyes withdrawals against RN but without LFI coordination. The rift builds on earlier polarization from Mélenchon's antifascist posturing.
