The results of the first round of parliamentary elections confirm the willingness of French men and women to turn the page of the right. After the election of Francois Hollande on May 6, it is possible next Sunday to elect a left majority at the National Assembly.
The ballot is marked by low participation and an increased polarization that distorts reality and diversity of French political landscape. This is a consequence of the strong presidentialization of the political debate. The inversion of the electoral calendar underestimates and misrepresents the role of legislative elections. It is a serious democratic problem that only ambitious institutional reforms can solve, up to a sixth Republic. It is an objective that the PCF and the Front de gauche will continue to fight for.
The Front de gauche gets, according to initial estimates, 7%. This result confirms the Front de gauche is taking root at the national level. It  is again tonight the second force of the left. In many districts, the mobilizing dynamic of the Front de gauche has continued during the electoral campaign. The two battles, presidential and legislative, conducted during this semester, is hopeful for the future and an asset without which the left can not succeed.
Next Sunday, a group of the Front de gauche may be elected at the National Assembly within a broad left-wing majority. The country can count on its members for five years.
I called tonight to defeat next Sunday, the right-wing candidates still in competition, to block the way of the National Assembly to FN candidates and elect, by gathering around the left candidates in the best position, a left-wing majority, stronger with a group of the Front de gauche.
Pierre Laurent,
National Secretary of the PCF
Paris, June 10, 2012