French Left Vows 'Total Break' With Macron Policies

France's left put up a united front on Friday, vowing a "total break" with President Emmanuel Macron's policies if it wins historic polls that could propel the far right to major gains in parliament.

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, also making a pitch to voters, pledged a "national unity government" if her party takes power in the snap legislative elections.

President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday stunned France by calling polls after Le Pen's far-right National Rally (NR) scored more than double the number of votes of his centrist alliance in last week's European elections.

Following days of intense negotiations, left-wing leaders including the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), the Socialist, Communist and Green parties said Thursday they had agreed on an election alliance called the New Popular Front.

On Friday, they unveiled a joint manifesto, whose headline measures included jettisoning Macron's controversial immigration and pension reforms if they win the polls to open June 30, with a second round on July 7.

"It's going to be either the far right, or us," Greens party leader Marine Tondelier told reporters.

The New Popular Front pledged to "unfailingly defend the sovereignty and freedom of the Ukrainian people" and to provide Kiev with arms deliveries.

Earlier on Friday, leading left-wing French politician Raphael Glucksmann threw his weight behind the coalition, saying it was the "only way" to prevent a far-right victory.

"We can't leave France to the Le Pen family," 44-year-old Glucksmann, who led the Socialist-backed list in the European elections, told broadcaster France Inter.

The name of the alliance is a nod to the Popular Front, a political alliance founded in France in 1936 to combat fascism.

Opinion polls suggest Le Pen's party will massively increase its parliamentary presence from its current 88 out of 577 seats.

The far-right National Rally was previously known as the National Front, which was co-founded by former Waffen-SS member Pierre Bousquet in 1972.

Le Pen took over as the leading figure of the National Front from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, renaming it and standing three times as its presidential candidate.

Glucksmann accused Macron of plunging France "into chaos".

"Since Sunday night, I've had a knot in my stomach," he said.

It remained unclear who would lead the New Popular Front and become prime minister in case of victory.

Glucksmann ruled out the LFI's abrasive leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Francois Hollande, the Socialist former president, also pronounced himself in favour of the new union, saying the left forces had "got beyond our differences".

Hitting the campaign trail in Pas-de-Calais in northern France, Le Pen claimed National Rally could win the elections and form a "national unity government".

"We need to pull France out of the rut," said the 55-year-old, who is expected to run for a fourth time in the 2027 presidential election.

"We will gather all French people -- men and women of goodwill -- who are aware of the catastrophic situation in our country," she said.

By contrast, other right-wing forces were mired in infighting.

Eric Ciotti, leader of the conservative Republicans, broke a historic taboo this week, announcing his party would form an electoral alliance with the far-right NR.

The rest of the party leadership promptly expelled him.

Ciotti insists he remains party chairman and is challenging his ousting in court. A court ruling was expected on Friday evening.

The Republicans' political bureau held a fresh meeting by videoconference on Friday and confirmed Ciotti's expulsion, party sources told AFP.

The 28-year-old NR chairman, Jordan Bardella, said the far-right party and the Republicans would put up joint candidates in 70 of France's 577 parliamentary constituencies, hailing what he said was a "historic agreement."

Macron remained defiant, defending his decision to dissolve parliament and call snap elections.

Speaking at a G7 summit in southern Italy on Thursday, he said his G7 counterparts praised his move.

"They all said: 'This is courageous'", Macron told journalists.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Thursday accused Macron of seeking to score points with voters at home, saying it was "profoundly wrong" to use the G7 summit for "campaigning".

Tensions spiked when Macron expressed regret at Rome's position on abortion, noting the French parliament's vote this year to enshrine the right in the constitution.