Jean-Luc Mélenchon, The Outspoken Left Leader Of France (image@JLMelanchon)
Jean-Luc Melenchon has been surfing along the French political waves since 1976. Born in Morocco in 1951, Mélenchon’s father was a postmaster and mother was a primary school teacher. He moved to Normandy with his family in 1962. After completing his schooling, Mélenchon graduated from the University of Frenche-Comte in Besançon with a degree in philosophy.
After working as a teacher for a while, he entered into politics in 1976, and joined Socialist Party. As an effort to bring together the French Communist Party (PCF), and the Socialist Party (PS), he started a federal newspaper. He served as the senator of Essone from 1986 to 2000. He also served as the vocational education minister under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin from 2000 to 2002. He was re-elected to the senate in 2004 and held the position until 2010.
Disappointed in the PS’s slant towards centrism, he left the party. He along with Marc Dolez announced that “out of fidelity to their commitments”, and for their independence of action, they are leaving the Socialist Party, and are going to create a new movement “without concession facing the right”.
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The newly left-wing party was simply called as the ‘Left Party’. The party called for the “constitution of a left-wing front for the European elections”. In the same year, the Left Party and French Communist Party entered into an alliance in the form of a “partnership”, within the framework of a “left front for another democratic and social Europe.
Mélenchon’s first presidential election was in 2012, during which he stood as the candidate of Left Front, which constituted the Communist Party of France, Left Party, and Unitary Left. He came fourth in the election.
In 2016, Mélenchon launched a left-wing platform La France Insoumise, also known as ‘France Unbowed’. In 2017, he run for the Presidential election again and garnered 19.6 votes, better than 2012 election. Mélenchon became the member of National Assembly for the La France Insoumise, after he won the legislative election of fourth constituency of Bouches-du-Rhone.
In 2019, Mélenchon received a suspended prison sentence of three months for rebellion and provocation after an altercation with police officers who had come to serve warrant at the headquarters of La France Insoumise in Paris.
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In the 2022 election, Mélenchon came third in the first round of election. He was eliminated in first round and could enter the second round. During the second round, he advised his voters not to vote for far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who was in the second position. He did not endorse for Macron either. Over 7.7 million of Mélenchon’s supporters in the first round played key demographic for second round.
Currently, Mélenchon is in charge of the New Popular Union (Nupes), which is an alliance of communist, socialist, and environmental groups. It has put out over 650 proposals to tackle France’s problems. Over 33 of them revealed internal divisions in the country. Nupes calls for increase in the minimum wage, decreasing the retirement age, taxing the affluent, generating employment, and controlling the cost of necessities.
Mélenchon is an outspoken critic of European Union (EU). According to him, EU have been corrupted through neoliberalism. He is also a thorough supporter of Palestinian statehood and a harsh critic of Israel, which he considers a colonial state. When Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party lose the 2019 UK General election, Mélenchon said the election results were influenced by the Israeli Likud Party.
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon is grabbing headlines again as France’s left alliances came together, giving a shock result to far right National Rally party. Right after the initial poll indications, Mélenchon seized the moment. Before anyone else, including his own France Unbowed, the Socialists, and the Greens, Mélenchon took centre stage at a gathering and demanded to form the government. He declared that the New Popular Front will not entertain “combination”, and will refuse any negotiations with other groups.
He also said that, “on international level, we will have to agree to recognize the State of Palestine”. He also called the mass killing of Palestinians by Israel as war crimes. He said cutting of basic necessities and telephone lines are called as a ‘crime against humanity’ under International law.
