It is the eternal long-distance race before each presidential election.
With less than five months of the first round, the candidates set out in search of the famous 500 sponsorships of elected officials, which they will all have to present six weeks before the poll to be able to appear on the starting line.
To discover
Presidential 2022: where are the candidates in the polls?
A rather easy mission for the large parties which have a large battalion of local elected officials ... But much more difficult for the "small candidates" with little or no local roots.
Philippe Poutou, who presents himself in the colors of the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) is one of them.
Invited by France Inter on Tuesday, he took stock of his progress on the subject.
Less complicated "with a familiar face"
Although he was represented in the 2012 and 2017 polls, the search for sponsorships remains a real "
problem
" for the NPA, explained the leader of the movement.
“
Obtaining 500 signatures from elected officials and especially mayors in small towns is a very complicated task
,” he explains.
The candidate announces that he has obtained 168 sponsorship pledges to date.
Read alsoPresidential 2022: Philippe Poutou launches his campaign in Paris to "make other ideas exist"
Philippe Poutou says, however, that he was invested by his party so that his notoriety could facilitate this search for signatures.
"
We thought it would be less complicated with a face already known, already installed,
" he explains.
A presence that also allowed the movement to "
legitimize
" its presence in this election, judges the one who is also municipal councilor of the city of Bordeaux since 2020.