The left-wing populist is stirring up the French parliamentary elections with his electoral alliance. He is likely to miss his declared goal of becoming prime minister. Nevertheless, he puts President Macron in trouble.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon managed to unite the left before the parliamentary elections, but opinions differ on the left-wing populist.
If Jean-Luc Mélenchon had his way, a new chapter would begin in France next Sunday: it would bring a radical break with the existing system, the end of “neoliberalism”, “presidential monarchy”, “inaction” on climate issues and everything what else is wrong under President Emmanuel Macron.
In this scenario, he, Mélenchon, would become Prime Minister and be able to guide France’s domestic politics. For weeks, the left-wing foreign politician has been appealing to the French to fulfill his dream. It got him far.
Last Sunday, the left-wing electoral alliance Nupes, led by Mélenchon, succeeded in the first round of the parliamentary elections. According to official figures from the Interior Ministry, it came in second place, just behind President Macron’s Alliance Ensemble. Mélenchon and his allies even see themselves as first place – they accuse the Interior Ministry of not counting the votes for candidates close to them in several constituencies in the alliance.
The anti-establishment politician is now hoping for a majority in the National Assembly next Sunday, which he believes would force President Macron to appoint him head of government. However, the chances of this are slim due to the majority system. survey institutes calculate Nupes 150 to 200 of the 577 MPs, Ensemble 255 to 295. But Mélenchon has not yet given up the dream of victory. It would be his greatest political triumph.
“Mélenchon, Premier ministre” – a misleading slogan that pulls
Like no other, the 70-year-old has stylized the parliamentary elections into a vote for himself in recent weeks. When he surprisingly narrowly missed out on entering the run-off election in April in the race for the presidency with his radical left-wing program, he briefly declared the outcome to be of secondary importance – and called on the French to elect him prime minister in the parliamentary elections.
This is not elected, but appointed by the President, taking into account the majority in the National Assembly. But the slogan “Mélenchon, Premier ministre” brought him the attention he wanted – and ultimately the support of other left-wing parties. In addition to the La France insoumise movement he founded, Greens, socialists and communists have joined the Nupes alliance.
Mélenchon has achieved remarkable things with this. Because until shortly before the presidential elections in April, alongside Macron, France’s right-wing dominated the political arena. The splintered left was virtually declared dead. Now it has received new impetus – and of all things by a man with radical positions, who for many years was an enemy of many more moderate leftists, especially among the socialists.
Big promises that can hardly be kept
After his political beginnings as a Trotskyist, Mélenchon was himself a member of the Socialists for more than 30 years. But in 2008 he broke with the party, which he accused of being too liberal and pro-European. In 2016 he founded the La France insoumise movement, which was tailored entirely to his personality. He ran for the presidency three times during his political career. This spring, he missed the runoff by just 421,420 votes. He did particularly well with young voters.
The convinced anti-capitalist promises his followers “a different world”. He is no less populist than the right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen. As prime minister, the talented speaker promised that he would immediately cap the prices of a selection of basic necessities and petrol. The minimum wage will be raised sharply, and the retirement age will be lowered from 62 to 60.
Mélenchon estimates the costs for this at 250 billion euros a year, some economists see them as being a lot higher. His plan for financing raises big questions. Mélenchon’s program would ruin France, so the warning of the chairman of the employers’ association Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux. Smaller companies in particular would be in trouble if prices were frozen and salaries increased at the same time.
But some French people seem to believe that the promises made by the tribune during the election campaign can be implemented. Others may particularly like the fact that he addresses issues that concern people: social inequality, the desire for an ambitious climate policy or the weaknesses of the political system, which many feel is not sufficiently represented. And that he railed sharply against Emmanuel Macron.
The president and his course are often the target of Mélenchon’s tirades, alongside the capitalist system, the banks and the rich. During his performances he likes to get loud, rage and provoke. “I’m not telling you that we will create paradise overnight, but we will end hell,” he called out to his supporters during a campaign appearance.
Europe critic, Germany hater, longtime Putin understander
Mélenchon is notorious for his choleric, often angry and sometimes abusive manner. His reaction when financial investigators searched his party headquarters in 2018 has not been forgotten to this day. “My person is sacrosanct,” he roared, and: “I am the republic!”
His foreign policy positions are also controversial. Mélenchon is a staunch anti-Americanist and advocates a gradual exit from NATO. He defended the Russian military operation in Syria. And shortly before Putin’s attack on Ukraine, he described NATO and not Russia as the aggressor. It was not until the outbreak of war that he distanced himself from Moscow and condemned the invasion.
Added to this is his extremely critical attitude towards Europe – and above all Germany. He meets the neighboring country, which he believes is forcing austerity policies on the other member states, with open hatred. When the then German chancellor called on France for stronger reforms in 2014, he bluntly tweeted: «Shut up, Ms. Merkel! France is free.” He had his willingness to disobey the EU recorded in his alliance’s election program. The Greens and Socialists, who are actually decidedly pro-European, had to bend their principles in order to agree to this.
The left-wing demagogue has now declared next Sunday’s vote to be a referendum for or against President Macron – and hopes to mobilize massively among those around 53 percent of those eligible to vote who stayed away from the ballot box last week.
Even if the chances of success are slim, Mélenchon and his alliance could do one thing: they could deprive Macron of an absolute majority and thus make it more difficult for him to govern. That alone would be a triumph for the left-wing foreign politician – which he would hardly hesitate to savor.