While his fate seemed sealed, Philippe Poutou announced on Twitter that he will have his 500 sponsorships. However, the Constitutional Council only counted 439 signatures for it when it was last published on March 3, the day before the deadline for submission.
Will he be there? While there are 11 candidates for the presidential election – the first round of which will be held in 36 days, Philippe Poutou is setting up quite a suspense. Will there be, as he wishes, a twelfth candidate to defend the “oppressed by capitalism”? For the moment the suitor labeled NPA (extreme left) has received only 439 sponsorships from elected officials. An insufficient score since each candidate must collect 500 signatures to be able to appear on the starting line on April 10. But this last count dates from March 3 at 5 p.m. Candidates have 24 more hours – until March 4 at 6 p.m. – to receive sponsorship from elected officials.
61 additional signatures in 24 hours, possible?
A few hours before the last salvo of the Constitutional Council on Thursday, Philippe Poutou posted a video on his Twitter account. He warned that he will not have the 500 sponsorships published on the website of the Constitutional Council, but he can still be a candidate. His hope now rests on the elected officials who have promised him sponsorships that they will send before March 4, 6 p.m., the deadline set for sending the Council his sponsorship of a candidate. The potential candidate hails “a victory” to “make disruptive solutions heard” in the campaign.
Already a candidate in 2012 and 2017, he had gathered 1.15% of voters and 1.09% in these two elections. “We put a lot of energy and willpower into it, meeting 13,000 mayors since July,” says the worker on his Twitter account. He assures that in addition to his 439 sponsorships, he has collected “70 to 80 documents, plus the words of mayors, the total of which exceeds 500”. The municipal councilor of Bordeaux mentioned the indispensable help of certain elected ecologists and communists.
Like 5 years ago, his campaign budget will be around 800,000 euros. Regarding the candidacy of Emmanuel Macron, he would like to see the outgoing president debate with all the candidates. “It seems the minimum in a campaign” he argued. “If it’s to flee debates, confrontations, there is something wrong,” he added. To find out if Philippe Poutou can officially be a candidate around his “anti-capitalist, environmentalist, anti-racist, feminist and internationalist” project, we will have to wait for the announcement of the President of the Constitutional Council Laurent Fabius, Monday March 7 at noon, who will reveal the candidates in run.
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