Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leading figure in the hard-left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) political party, will stand in next year's presidential election, he said on Sunday.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of French far-left opposition party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) © Mena Today
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leading figure in the hard-left France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) political party, will stand in next year's presidential election, he said on Sunday.
"Yes, I am a candidate," Melenchon told TF1 TV.
Melenchon, 74, has been a fixture of the French left for decades, holding ministerial posts in past governments when he was a Socialist Party member. He ran for president in 2012, 2017 and 2022, coming third that year behind far-right leader Marine Le Pen and President Emmanuel Macron.
"We have less than a year to go until the second round of the election. With us, it is all sorted out - there is a team, a manifesto, and a single candidate," added Melenchon.
Under the French constitution, Macron cannot seek a third mandate as president.
Edouard Philippe, Macron’s first prime minister in 2017, is also set to stand in 2027, representing a centre-right camp.
The far-right National Rally (RN) party, led by Le Pen and her protégé Jordan Bardella, is polling strongly at present although the RN failed to win control of any major city during French municipal elections in March.
Le Pen, who ran in the last three elections, is barred from standing because of a conviction for misuse of EU funds, which she is trying to overturn on appeal; should she fail, Bardella is widely expected to stand in her stead.
Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Nicolas Delame
The U.S. military conducted a drill over Caracas on Saturday, its first military exercise in Venezuela since U.S. troops attacked the capital and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3.
At least seven police were injured in clashes with protesters, officials said, as tens of thousands of people marched through Madrid on Saturday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez after a series of corruption scandals.
Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Friday dismissed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko and dissolved the government, a move that risks deepening uncertainty in a country already grappling with a debt crisis and drawn-out talks with the International Monetary Fund.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
