Jean-Luc Mélenchon: Left "anti-Macron" wants to govern France
Created: 05/25/2022, 11:35 am
By: Max Schaefer
Jean-Luc Mélenchon shapes the left in France like no other.
After the parliamentary elections, he wants to become prime minister.
All information about his career.
Paris – Jean-Luc Mélenchon has become the most important representative of the radical left in France in recent years.
The politician from the La France Insoumise party, which translates as “indomitable France”, has repeatedly applied for the office of president.
In the presidential election in France in 2022, however, he narrowly failed to make it into the runoff.
After the parliamentary elections, he wants to become prime minister and thus head of government.
Surname | Jean-Luc Melenchon |
|---|---|
Date of birth | Aug. 19, 1951 |
Place of birth | Tangier, Morocco |
education | study of philosophy |
Former Professions | teacher and journalist |
Political party | La France insoumise |
previous parties | Parti de Gauce, Parti socialiste |
Jean-Luc Mélenchon: Political Beginnings
Jean-Luc Mélenchon was born in Tangier, Morocco, on August 19 and came to France at the age of eleven.
While studying philosophy, he became politically involved in a Trotskyist organization.
Afterwards Mélenchon worked as a teacher and journalist and was active in trade unions.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France party insoumise at a May Day demonstration in Paris.
(Archive image) © Lewis Joly/dpa
Mélenchon joined the Parti Socialiste (PS) in the 1970s.
He continued to rise in the ranks before he failed in 1997 when he tried to become Secretary General because of François Hollande.
Nonetheless, he made it to Minister for Professional Education, a position he held under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin from 2000 to 2002.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon breaks with socialists and builds La France party insoumise
In Mélenchon's opinion, however, the socialists moved too much towards the centre.
The break finally followed in 2008: the politician left the PS in order to “tie together all the forces of human emancipation and progress in a radical democratic, anti-capitalist and ecological movement”.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon thus founded the Parti de Gauche, which later became today's La France Insoumise party.
From 2009 to 2017 the left sat in the European Parliament.
During this time he tried to become President of France.
However, on the first attempt in 2012, Mélenchon missed the runoff with eleven percent.
In the 2017 presidential election, he received 19.6 percent of the votes, which was also not enough for the decisive round.
However, in the elections to the National Assembly, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his party La France insoumise managed to get into the French Parliament.
There, Mélenchon was able to make a name for himself as a critic of President Emmanuel Macron and his government, which was shaped by the La République en Marche party.
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Elections in France 2022: Mélenchon wants to become prime minister as “anti-Macron”.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon also stood in the presidential election in France in 2022.
During the election campaign, the Left presented itself as "anti-Macron" and attacked Emmanuel Macron primarily because of his social and economic policies, which are the cause of the "social emergency" in France.
In the first round of voting on the head of state, Mélenchon was able to improve his result.
He received 22 percent of the votes, just 1.2 percentage points fewer than Marine Le Pen. Still, it wasn't enough for the runoff.
Shortly thereafter, however, Mélenchon has his next goal in mind: after the parliamentary elections in France on June 12 and 19, 2022, the leftist wants to become prime minister and thus head of government of France.
In order for him to achieve the necessary majority in the National Assembly, his party La France Insoumise formed an alliance with Greens, Socialists and Communists.
The "New Social and Ecological People's Front" nominates joint candidates in the various constituencies so as not to contest each other's votes.
Surname | Nouvelle union populaire ecologique et sociale |
|---|---|
German translation | New ecological and social popular union |
founding | May 1, 2022 |
Involved Parties | La France insoumise (FI) |
Europe Ecology – Les Verts (EELV) | |
Parti socialiste (PS) | |
French Communist Party (PCF) |
Jean-Luc Mélenchon: The Positions of the Left Politician
Jean-Luc Mélenchon strives for radical reforms.
In doing so, he concentrates only on the areas of social and economic policy, but takes the entire political system of France into account.
In his presidential campaign, he campaigned for a new constitution, the "sixth republic," which represents a departure from the presidential system.
Instead, citizens should be more involved.
"In all European countries, the prime minister is elected, only we elect a monarch," declared Mélenchon at a campaign event on May 12, 2022.
In the field of foreign policy, Mélenchon has repeatedly appeared as a critic of the EU.
The community of states is a construct of the capitalist system.
During the euro crisis, the left spoke of Germany's economic and financial dictates and accused the neighboring country of imperialism.
For this reason, Mélenchon has long resisted France's exit from the EU.
There is no mention of this in the Nupes program before the 2022 parliamentary elections, but EU treaties and legal acts of the Union, among other things, are not to be implemented “if they contradict the implementation legitimized by the people” of the program.
(Max Schaefer)
