Jean-Luc Mélenchon drew twenty thousand supporters to a hall north of Paris, launching his presidential bid with a manifesto titled A Shared Future.
Opinion polls place him as the left’s strongest contender for the April 2027 presidential election. He trails far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, Al Jazeera reported.
Young backers wore soccer jerseys bearing his name above the number 27, according to Associated Press reporting. The seventy-five-year-old firebrand entered the arena.
The presidential candidate is polling between 17.5 to 18 percent this week. That widens the gap with his rivals in the left camp.
Raphael Glucksmann leads the centre-left Place Publique party. He secured the backing of the Socialist Party after winning a joint primary in October.
Running on their own ticket are the Communist Party’s Fabien Roussel, Marine Tondelier’s Greens party, and independent Francois Ruffin. The left-wing bloc remains undecided on the LFI.
François Hollande delivered his declaration in Le Bourget during the 2012 presidential campaign. He stated that his real opponent was the world of finance.
Hollande intended to establish left-wing credentials before pursuing supply-side economic policies once elected. The event location carried historical resonance.
Mélenchon is running his campaign independently. He drew a contrast with predecessors.
Former President François Hollande had only filled a third of the same hall. Mélenchon noted this fact.
The manifesto contains 1,069 measures. These include 238 new proposals alongside policies carried over from previous election cycles in 2022 and 2017.
Yahoo reported the plan proposes raising the net monthly minimum wage to €1,700 from around €1,480. It adds a 100 percent tax on inheritances above €12 million.
Additional proposals include a minimum 2 percent tax on the wealth of billionaires. They restore France’s wealth tax and increase taxes on large inheritances.
Yahoo reported the candidate reiterated his long-standing criticism of NATO. He called for France’s gradual withdrawal from the alliance starting with an exit from its integrated military command.
The Local France reported party officials stated that details on how the spending plans will be funded will be revealed at the start of 2027
.
Euronews reported center-right candidate Édouard Philippe criticized the platform’s administered economy
during a speech near Marseille. He noted similarities between the far right and hard left in their desire to leave NATO.
Philippe criticized Mélenchon’s communitarian vision. Mélenchon defended his uncompromising stance on change while addressing the cheering crowd in Le Bourget.
I have only one sensible thing to propose, Everything must change.
He fell short by just 421,308 votes in a 2022 race.