French Greens, far-left party in deal before June elections

PARIS (AP) — France’s Greens and the party of far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon have reached an agreement to join forces against newly reelected President Emmanuel Macron ahead of next month’s parliamentary election. Both parties agreed Monday not to compete against each other in the two rounds of voting on June 12 and 19. Mélenchon came in third in the first round of last month’s presidential election. He is now hoping for a  comeback in the upcoming legislative elections as the head of what he hopes will be a coalition of leftist parties who have spent the past five years in Macron’s shadow. Mélenchon’s third place in April with 22% of the vote in the first round of voting gave him leverage in trying to rally other parties on the left behind him for the legislative vote.