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Jean-Luc Mélenchon

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Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Mélenchon in 2022
Member of the National Assembly
In office
21 June 2017 – 21 June 2022
Preceded byPatrick Mennucci
Succeeded byManuel Bompard
ConstituencyBouches-du-Rhône's 4th
President of the LFI Group at the National Assembly
In office
27 June 2017 – 12 October 2021
Vice PresidentMathilde Panot
Preceded byGroup creation
Succeeded byMathilde Panot
Constituency15th legislature of the French Fifth Republic
Member of the European Parliament
In office
14 July 2009 – 18 June 2017
ConstituencySouth-West France
Member of the Senate
In office
1 October 2004 – 7 January 2010
ConstituencyEssonne
In office
2 October 1986 – 27 April 2000
ConstituencyEssonne
Minister delegate for Vocational Education
In office
27 March 2000 – 6 May 2002
Prime MinisterLionel Jospin
Preceded byClaude Allègre
Succeeded byLuc Ferry
Personal details
Born
Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon

(1951-08-19) 19 August 1951 (age 73)
Tangier, Tangier International Zone
Political partyLa France Insoumise (since 2016)
Other political
affiliations
Alma materUniversity of Franche-Comté
WebsiteOfficial website
European Party website

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (French: [ʒɑ̃ lyk melɑ̃ʃɔ̃] ⓘ; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly for Bouches-du-Rhône's 4th constituency from 2017 to 2022. He led the La France Insoumise group in the National Assembly from 2017 to 2021. Mélenchon was elected as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2009 and reelected in 2014. He has run for president of France three times (in 2012, 2017, and 2022). In 2022, he came within 1.2 percentage points of reaching the second round in France's two-round voting system.

After joining the Socialist Party (PS) in 1976, Mélenchon was successively elected a municipal councillor of Massy (1983) and general councillor of Essonne (1985). In 1986, he entered the Senate, to which he was reelected in 1995 and 2004. He also served as Minister for Vocational Education between 2000 and 2002 under Minister of National Education Jack Lang in the cohabitation government of Lionel Jospin. He was part of the left-wing of the PS until the Reims Congress of November 2008, when he left the party to found the Left Party with Marc Dolez, a member of the National Assembly. Mélenchon first served as party president before becoming party co-president alongside Martine Billard, a position he held until 2014. As co-president of the Left Party, he joined the electoral coalition of the Left Front before the 2009 European Parliament election in France; he was elected as a MEP in the South-West France constituency and reelected in 2014. He became the Left Front's candidate in the 2012 French presidential election, in which he came in fourth, receiving 11.1% of the first-round vote.

In February 2016, Mélenchon founded the party La France Insoumise (LFI or FI). He stood as a candidate in the 2017 French presidential election, again coming in fourth, with 19.6% of the first-round vote. He became a member of the National Assembly for LFI following the 2017 French legislative election, receiving 59.9% in the second round in the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, located in Marseille (France's second-largest city). Mélenchon stood again under the LFI banner in the 2022 French presidential election, coming in third with 21.95% of the vote, just over one point short of qualifying for the second round. After this, he led the newly formed New Ecological and Social People's Union (NUPES) alliance of parties to a second-place performance in the 2022 French legislative election. LFI was confirmed as the largest party of the French left in the 2024 French legislative election, where the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) achieved a plurality of seats and LFI was confirmed as the largest left-wing group in the National Assembly.

Biography

Early life, education, and early politics (1951–1976)

Mélenchon was born in Tangier (Tangier International Zone), Morocco.[1] His father, Georges, was a postmaster of Spanish descent, and his mother, Jeanine Bayona, was a primary school teacher of Spanish and Sicilian descent.[2] He grew up in Morocco, until his family moved to France in 1962. Mélenchon was then educated at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille, a state secondary school in Rouen, Normandy.[3] He graduated in 1972.[1] With a degree in philosophy from the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon and having gained a CAPES, he became a teacher before entering politics.[3] He was originally a follower of Pierre Lambert and a member of the Trotskyist movement before supporting François Mitterrand and joining the Socialist Party (PS).[1]

Socialist Mitterrandist leader (1976–1986)

Mélenchon left Besançon to enter professional life in Lons-le-Saunier (Jura), and joined the PS in September 1976.[4] He was part of the democratic socialist and left-wing of the PS. Mélenchon did not join the French Communist Party (PCF) because of the latter's refusal to condemn the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 to end the Prague Spring, an event that he said had significantly affected him in political terms, even more than the protests of 1968, which occurred when he was still a university student and he became leader of the student movement at the University of Besançon,[1] and was one of the causes of his joining in 1972 the Internationalist Communist Organisation.[5][6] As a member of the PS, he soon assumed local and departmental responsibilities (deputy section secretary of Montaigu), and developed a federal newspaper that fought for a union between the PS and the PCF. It was at this time that the latter broke the agreements of the union of the left on a joint program of government. He then came to the attention of Claude Germon, mayor of Massy (Essonne) and member of the executive office of the PS responsible for the business section. Without stable work after his application was rejected at the Croix du Jura newspaper,[7] he was hired by Claude Germon to become his private secretary.[8]

Mélenchon became one of the leading Mitterrandist leaders of the Essonne federation, which led him to the position of first secretary of this federation at the Valence Congress in 1981; he remained in this position until 1986. He positioned himself both against the "Second left" of Michel Rocard and the Centre of Socialist Studies, Research, and Education (CERES) of Jean-Pierre Chevènement. He was elected senator during the senatorials of 1986,[9] and again in 1995 and 2004.[10] A supporter of Mitterrand and left-wing reformist socialism, Mélenchon presented two lectures about Mitterrand's presidency, "1981: The Revolution Suspended" and "A Complete Balance Sheet of François Mitterand's presidency". He saw Mitterand's win in 1981 as the end of a political process of which the main accelerator was "the ten million workers on strike" in the protests of 1968. He argued that the reforms introduced by Mitterrand were more wide-ranging than often recognised, citing the nationalisation of dozens of banks electricity companies, engineering companies, and motorways, the doubling of the budget of the Ministry of Culture, and increased taxes for the rich, and against the perceived betrayal on the part of Mitterrand and the other left-wing leaders. According to Mélenchon, the blame for the turn to austerity rest on a lack of political courage, a lack of strategy on the left of the left, and a lack of mass mobilisation.[11]

Socialist Party (1986–2008)

Departure from the Socialists and foundation of the Left Party (2008–2012)

Mélenchon in 2008

At the Reims Congress in September 2008, the political current Trait d'union, created after the victory of the "No" in the 2005 French European Constitution referendum, Mélenchon made a new contribution. On the eve of the filing of the motions, an agreement was reached between the seven contributions of the left wing of the PS, and Mélenchon was one of the signatories of Motion C entitled "A world ahead", led by Benoît Hamon.[12] For the first time, this motion brought together all the sensibilities of the left wing of the PS, with emblematic personalities like Gérard Filoche, Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, and Paul Quilès. He described this gathering as a "historic event".[13]

On 6 November 2008, the Socialist militants voted to decide between six motions. The motion supported by Ségolène Royal led with about 29% of the votes cast, while the one led by Benoît Hamon came in fourth with 18.5%. For Mélenchon, this was a victory of the outgoing majority, which carried 80% of the votes (with the first three motions) including the motion advocating the alliance in the centre.[14] Believing themselves too far from this trend to the point that it would not be useful to take part in the congress, Mélenchon, alongside Marc Dolez,[15][16] announced on 7 November their decision, "out of fidelity to their commitments", and for their independence of action, to leave the PS, and to create a new movement "without concession facing the right".[17]

They announced "the construction of a new left-wing party", simply called the Left Party (on the German model of Die Linke), and called for "the constitution of a left-wing front for the European elections".[18] On 18 November, in a meeting with the PCF, the two parties announced their alliance in the form of a "partnership", within the framework of a "left front for another democratic and social Europe, against the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon and the current European Treaties". The launch meeting of the Left Party was held on 29 November in Saint-Ouen, in the presence of Die Linke's co-chairman Oskar Lafontaine.[19] Mélenchon became the party president. Until 2014, he was also co-president alongside Martine Billard.[20]

First presidential candidacy (2012)

A political outsider,[1] Mélenchon was the candidate representing the Left Front (Communist Party of France, Left Party, Unitary Left) in the 2012 French presidential election.[21][22] He took fourth place and achieved 11.10% of the vote, trailing behind François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Marine Le Pen and their respective parties (the PS, the Union for a Popular Movement, and the National Front). In comparison, the winner, Hollande, received 28.63% of the vote.[nb 1] It was the first time the non-socialist left had registered a double figure result since Georges Marchais in 1981.[1]

In the 2012 French legislative election, Mélenchon represented the Left Front in the Pas-de-Calais' 11th constituency against his rival Marine Le Pen, where she had over 31% in the presidential election.[23] He received third place with 21.46% of the vote, narrowly edged out for second by Socialist Party member Phillip Kemel. Mélenchon decided not to stand in the second round of the election after this result.[24]

Second presidential candidacy (2017)

During the presidency of Hollande, Mélenchon became one of the most critical voices in the left against his centrist free-market policy, which he considered a betrayal of the culture and ideas of the French left. During an interview on the French television channel TF1 on 10 February 2016, Melenchon launched the left-wing political platform La France Insoumise,[25][nb 2] without any expectation of victory.[1] La France Insoumise was subsequently endorsed by several parties, such as the Left Party and French Communist Party, in addition to members of the Europe Ecology – The Greens like Sergio Coronado, an assembly member for the 2nd Overseas Constituency,[30] and the mayor of Grenoble, Éric Piolle.[31] According to political scientist Christopher Bickerton, La France Insoumise was comparable to Podemos in Spain, and Le Baron Noir character Michel Vidal is based on Mélenchon.[32] La France Insoumise's broad range meant it ran, in the words of Bickerton, "from the remnants of the PCF's industrial working class votes to the vast majority of the country's Muslim population, as well as urbanised intellectuals and France’s many neo-ruralist converts".[32] According to Bickerton, La France Insoumise is "a flexible organisation, in tune with the individualism of the present", with "no membership as such" and much of its activism being "self-financed and self-organised", and where "Mélenchon gives his approval to initiatives after the fact rather than issuing orders or instructions."[32]

On 12 January 2017, Mélenchon secured the 500 elected sponsors required to be validated by the Constitutional Council. After Benoît Hamon won the nomination for the Parti Socialiste on a left-wing platform, beating former Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, 58–41,[33] Hamon announced on TF1 on 27 February that he and Melenchon had been in talks to form an alliance but their stances on the European Union separated them, as Melenchon's platform was to renegotiate EU treaties or hold a referendum. France 24 reported: "Adding their scores would place a candidate in first or second place."[34] Mélenchon, who saw himself as "outside the frame of political parties",[35] held at a consistent 12% for most of the campaign, until a late upwards surge which put him just behind third place François Fillon at 18%. This late surge is mainly due to Mélenchon's performance within the second presidential debate hosted by BFM TV and CNews, where, according to an Elabe poll, he was found the most convincing candidate by 25%;[36] however, he did not qualify for the second round of voting, winning 19.6% of the vote in the first round, placing fourth. With seven million votes, La France Insoumise had achieved the biggest vote in France for the radical left since 1945; it achieved 24% among blue-collar voters, 22% among low-paid white-collar voters, and 30% among 18–24 year-olds.[29]

After the first round, Mélenchon refused to endorse Macron and told his voters that "no vote should go to the National Front", as he had done in 2002.[37][38] Following constant criticism for this choice, Mélenchon invited members of La France Insoumise to vote on who he will endorse with the choices being "Vote for Emmanuel Macron", "Blank Vote", or "Abstain", with the result being announced on 2 May. 36.12% submitted a blank vote, 34.83% chose to endorse Macron, and 29.05% abstained.[39] His campaign positions included the intent to establish a Sixth Republic and preserve the environment. According to the NGOs for the development aid Action Against Hunger, Action santé mondiale, CARE France, and ONE Campaign, Mélenchon was the candidate in the presidential election who is the most engaged regarding international solidarity. Together with other French intellectuals, he vigorously denounces free trade between France and the United States as an example of global exploitation.[40]

Member of the National Assembly (2017–2022)

Mélenchon with fellow parliamentarian Éric Coquerel in 2017

In June 2017, Mélenchon became a member of the National Assembly for La France Insoumise following his win in the legislative election in the 4th constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, which covers parts of the centre of Marseille. He won 59.9% of the vote in the second round against En Marche! candidate Corrine Versini. He defeated sitting member Patrick Mennucci in the first round, a notable member of the Socialist Party in Marseille.[nb 3] The collapse of the Socialist Party meant that La France Insoumise had become the de facto opposition to Emmanuel Macron in the National Assembly.[32]

His election to the National Assembly drew national media attention.[41] During the examination of the 2017 Labour Law bill, he was remarked in the National Assembly for his multiple interventions, defending the Labour Code status quo along with fellow La France Insoumise members, arguing that flexibilisation would be harmful to workers.[42] He drew attention from the media once more when he came in Parliament with a five-euros food shopping bag to denounce a student benefits cut planned by the government.[43] In December 2019, Mélenchon received a suspended prison sentence of three months for rebellion and provocation following an altercation with police officers who had come to serve a warrant at the La France Insoumise headquarters in Paris.[44]

Third presidential candidacy and NUPES (2022–2023)

Map of the first round of the 2022 French presidential election. Mélenchon was the most voted candidate in the red departments and territories

Mélenchon was again a candidate in the 2022 French presidential election. He was one of three candidates placed without their consent on the ballot for the 2022 French People's Primary, a non-official vote for a common left-wing candidate; he came third out of seven, behind Christiane Taubira and Yannick Jadot.[45] Taubira withdrew in March, and endorsed Mélenchon.[46] Mélenchon's polling numbers surged in the final weeks of campaigning, putting him within chance of making the second round.[47] In 2017, 21.4% had been enough to gain access to the second round.[29]

For the first round of the 2022 presidential election, Mélenchon's strategy was to unite the other left-wing anti-neoliberal parties against Emmanuel Macron, who attempted to play down his neoliberalism in the second round in order to appeal to Mélenchon voters while presenting Marine Le Pen as a dangerous nationalist. This dynamic flipped in the 2022 French legislative election as Mélenchon and La France Insoumise had become part of the New Ecological and Social People's Union (NUPES), a broad anti-neoliberal coalition.[48][nb 4] In turn, Macron denounced Mélenchon and the anti-neoliberal NUPES coalition as delusional anti-capitalists.[48] Mélenchon urged his supporters "not to give a single vote to Mrs Le Pen".[49] According to political scientist Christopher Bickerton, observers commented that "the LFI's electoral offer was the most sophisticated of all the parties — a total of 694 proposals, from a sixth republic to 'rational' anti-terrorist legislation, to a commitment to the demilitarisation of space."[32]

In the first round of voting in France's two round voting system, Mélenchon came in third place with 22% of the vote, behind Macron (28%) and Le Pen (23%). Only the top two finishers continue on to the second round, so Mélenchon was eliminated after the results of the first round were certified.[nb 5] Mélenchon advised his voters not to vote for Le Pen in the second round but did not endorse Macron. His 7.7 million first-round voters became a key demographic for the second round. He was the most popular candidate for voters aged 24–35,[50] and in the overseas departments of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Saint Martin, obtaining majorities in several of these jurisdictions.[51] He also finished first in Île-de-France.[52] Mélenchon did not run for re-election in Bouches-du-Rhône's 4th constituency, instead giving his candidacy to Manuel Bompard.[53] Mélenchon led the NUPES coalition since May 2022.[54] In the 2022 legislative election, NUPES won 131 seats.[55][56] Amid divisions, NUPES dissolved in 2023.[57]

Political positions

Mélenchon is a socialist republican, inspired primarily by the founder of French republican socialism Jean Jaurès.[58] During his political career, Mélenchon crossed various tendencies of the French left, from Trotskyism in his youth to more moderate socialism, as he was in the Socialist Party for almost thirty years, occupying a place on the left wing of the party, before he began a companionship with the French Communist Party after his departure from the Socialist Party in 2008.[59][60][61] He rejects the labels of "radical left" or "far left" that the press has sometimes ascribed to his political positions.[61] According to historian Jean-Numa Ducange, Mélenchon became for many the main representative of the historical French left during the 2017 presidential election, scoring 20%, far ahead of the Socialist Party candidate Benoît Hamon, and was not a radical leftist, having unconditionally supported the Plural Left that was in power between 1997 and 2002, and having himself been a minister in this government between 2000 and 2002.[61] According to historian Roger Martelli, Mélenchon's long Socialist Party past contradicts the restricted image of "left of the left" and gives him a "traditional anchoring".[59] Historian Sudhir Hazareesingh described Mélenchon as a "democratic socialist candidate [who] symbolises France's hunger for social, political, and environmental reform, as well as the popular frustration with the nation’s established elites", and as "a middle-class champion of the working people, a former senator turned radical reformer, a transformative visionary driven by memories of past glories, a digital geek steeped in classical learning, an inveterate critic of presidentialism who is himself a charismatic leader, and a 70-year-old veteran who counts the young among his primary constituencies".[62] According to sociologist Paolo Gerbaudo, Mélenchon supports social-democratic and reformist socialist policies, having softened his "revolutionary and radical image". During the 2022 presidential campaign, Mélenchon shifted towards a more pragmatic approach, instead of a philosophical and theoretical one, while campaigning in favour of bread-and-butter issues.[63] According to political scientist Christopher Bickerton, among the reasons for "Mélenchon's high score in the 2022 presidential election was that he supplemented his earlier populism with an extensive and comprehensive legislative programme."[32]

Mélenchon's radicalism is linked to his criticism of neoliberalism.[nb 6] According to the Belgian public media RTBF, his radical appearance is linked to his criticism of neoliberalism, international treaties, and the functioning of the European Union (EU), as well as his tax reform. Mélenchon does not support Marxist ideas of "proletarian revolution", as is the case with the New Anticapitalist Party and Lutte Ouvrière, and his tax reform is more moderate than that of the far-left.[68] On the political spectrum, Mélenchon is placed on the political left,[69] including by international news outlets like CNN,[70] The Daily Telegraph,[71] Der Spiegel,[72] Deutsche Welle,[73] NBC News,[74] The New Yorker,[75] Politico,[76] The Scotsman,[77] The Spectator,[78] and The Times;[79] he is often also classified as far left, or left-wing populist,[80] by Anglo-Saxon news outlets (the Associated Press,[81] BBC News,[82] Bloomberg News,[83] The Conversation,[84] the Financial Times,[85] The Independent,[86] Reuters,[87] Time,[88] and The Washington Post),[89] as well as by the French media whose audience is international (Euronews,[90] France 24,[91][92][93] and Radio France Internationale).[94] He is described as a "firebrand leader of the left".[95][96]

Mélenchon is a proponent of increased labour rights and the expansion of French welfare programmes.[97] He has also called for the mass redistribution of wealth to rectify existing socioeconomic inequalities.[97] Domestic policies proposed by Mélenchon include a 100% income tax on earnings over €360,000 a year, 100% inheritance tax on sums beyond €12 million,[98] full state reimbursement for health care costs, a reduction in presidential powers in favour of the legislature, and the easing of immigration laws.[99] Mélenchon supports same-sex marriage and women's right to abortion. He also supports the legalisation of cannabis.[100] Mélenchon believes in the "créolisation" of French culture and society, a term coined by the Martinican poet Édouard Glissant, who defines it as "a blend of cultures that creates something new", that "belongs to none of the cultures that comprise it".[101] During a campaign rally in December 2021, Mélenchon told his supporters: "Whatever one's gender, colour or religion, we are called upon to love one another, and so we pool together our tastes and our cultures. That's créolisation. Créolisation is the future of humanity."[101] Hazareesingh argued that Mélenchon "mobilised support in deprived inner-city areas, and was the only major candidate who unambiguously denounced racism and Islamophobia, and defended a multicultural vision of Frenchness which, borrowing from the poet Édouard Glissant, he labelled 'créolisation'."[62] During a rally on 14 June 2024, Melenchon stated "When I was born, one in ten French people had a foreign grandparent, now it's one in four. Consequently, those who call themselves French by origin pose a serious problem for the cohesion of society".[102]

Mélenchon (right) with Olivier Besancenot (left) and José Bové (centre) at a meeting to rally support for the "No" vote in the 2005 French European Constitution referendum

Mélenchon is an outspoken critic of the EU, which he views as having been corrupted through neoliberalism.[103] During his 2012 campaign, Mélenchon positioned himself against the trend towards economic globalisation, which he denounced as disproportionately profiting the financial industry and "high income earners" at the expense of the poor.[103] He insisted international organisations such as the EU threatened to "strangle the voice of the people".[104] He supports a renegotiation of European treaties.[105] Mélenchon opposes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which he perceives as an affront to France's national sovereignty.[104] He has repeatedly called for France to withdraw from NATO.[104] Mélenchon has voiced his support for Rattachism.[106]

Mélenchon has been labelled a populist by numerous diverse people,[nb 7] with the Socialist Party senator Luc Carvounas saying he goes to "the summits of demagoguery and populism", and the magazine Slate stating that Mélenchon's rhetoric is "shocking" and implying his entire political life is based around pleasing the people.[108] He has been compared to Le Pen in terms of debating style;[109][110] political scientist Dominique Reynié even went as far as to say he "flirts with xenophobia when it helps him".[111] According to Bickerton, "LFI's starting point is not Marxist dialectics or class conflict, but le peuple".[112] Political scientist Chloe Morin described Mélenchon as "the principal asset of La France Insoumise. He is also their principal handicap. He is a great orator, a matchless tactician but also a deeply divisive figure."[113] Mélenchon has himself his vision of populism, which he sees as positive if it comes with left-wing politics, and believes it is possible to bring about a "citizens' revolution" to usher in "the epoch of the people".[29] He is inspired by the philosopher Chantal Mouffe, who sought to theorise and rehabilitate the term "left populism". This theory argues that neoliberalism and austerity only made the far-right stronger and that the populist concept of "the people" has to be reintroduced into the political sphere in a civic sense rather than an ethnic way (creating a "right populism" to fight).[114][nb 8]

Sixth Republic and French Constitution

Mélenchon advocates for the holding of a constitutional convention to create a Sixth French Republic. In the 2017 party manifesto titled L'Avenir en commun, it states in the first chapter: "The new constitution that France needs must be radically different."[115] On 14 September 2014, Mélenchon wrote in Le Monde that "France must protect itself from the powers of finance. They devour the real economy. ... To this end, the definition of the constitutional rights of private ownership of capital should change. ... Again, it is inclusion in the Constitution that will fix this and make it a common rule."[116]

Mélenchon is endorsed by the Movement for the 6th Republic, and has spoken positively of them before. A spokesman for La France Insoumise affirmed that Mélenchon was very welcoming of a Sixth Republic run by the people that welcomes democracy, ecology, and challenges social issues.[116] The constitutional convention members must not have ever been elected representatives, and they would not be able to present themselves thereafter.[117]

Agriculture and animal treatment

The association L214, which is a non-profit for animal protection, stated that he was the only candidate "for animals" during its evaluation of the candidates' programmes, giving him a score of 15.7/20, placing him at the head of 11 candidates.[118]

European Parliament

Mélenchon's attendance before the 2012 presidential election was at 63%,[119] and after this, his average is often compiled with pre-2012, so it is compiled at 71.40%.[120] Mélenchon justified his relatively low attendance with how active he is within France itself, and has posted a list of other reasons on his blog.[121][122] He increased his attendance after that, with the website votewatch.eu reporting it in 2017 at 85.1%.[123]

Foreign policy

Germany

Mélenchon is critical of German economic policies. After writing a pamphlet against German policies in May 2015, Mélenchon declared: "But I'm not being anti-German. My aim is to rid my readers of any fascination with the so-called 'German model'. What a 'model', indeed! It is a mockery, a fake paradise, whose population suffers from increasing impoverishment and social violence. The fantasy of the 'German model' is the opium of the rich!"[124]

After the German Chancellor Angela Merkel described reform efforts so far in France and Italy as "insufficient" in December 2014, Mélenchon replied through Twitter in German and French: "Maul zu, Frau #Merkel ! Frankreich ist frei. Occupez-vous de vos pauvres et de vos équipements en ruines !" ("Shut your mouth, Mrs. Merkel! France is free. Take care of your poor and your ruined equipment.")[125][126] In reaction to the 2015 Greek bailout referendum on the Greek sovereign debt crisis in early July 2015, he said that the "right-wing German government" was primarily responsible for the aggravation of the crisis.[127]

Ukraine

In 2014 Mélenchon considered the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea to be "absolutely predictable", stating that "Crimean ports [were considered by Russia as] vital for Russia's security", and that Russia was taking "protective measures against an adventurous putschist power", also alleging that Ukraine was influenced by neo-Nazis.[128] He further opposed imposing sanctions on Russia, and as a member of the European Parliament, voted against all forms of cooperation with Ukraine, including on science.[129] In 2015, Mélenchon referred to Ukraine as a country "struggling to be one".[129] During the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, he said that Russia "...must not cross Ukraine's borders", while stating that the United States should not "annex Ukraine into NATO".[130] He blamed the cause of the conflict between 2014 and 2022 on what he termed as NATO "pushing ever closer to [Russia's] borders".[129][130]

Nonetheless, Mélenchon denounced the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, describing it as an "unbearable escalation" and calling for the use of "diplomatic" means to obtain ‘an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Ukraine".[131] After initially opposing arms deliveries to Ukraine,[132] Mélenchon endorsed arms deliveries in June 2022 with the justification that "Ukraine has the right and the duty to defend itself", but opposed further French involvement.[133]

Russia

Some commentators claimed Mélenchon "supported Russia" and was sympathetic towards Vladimir Putin.[134][135] Notably, the journalist Nicolas Hénin said that Mélenchon is "on the left of the political spectrum, but is an advocate for the Kremlin leader", with Hénin quoting how Mélenchon is the "political victim number one" after the murder of the Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.[136] Cécile Vaissié, author of The Kremlin Networks, considers Mélenchon as "one of those that approve of Putin",[137] and Yannick Jadot of EELV said that the "pro-Russia" stance is "contrary to any environment thinking".[138]

Mélenchon mocked accusations of support for Putin, saying that it is unlikely that an "eco-socialist" would support Putin,[139] and when attacked by Benoît Hamon on the topic of Putin, he stated: "I am not bound in any way to Mr. Putin. I am absolutely fighting his policy, and if I were Russian, I would not vote for his party, but for the Russian Left Front whose leader is in prison."[140] Mélenchon declared opposition to Putin's domestic policy and notes his friend of the Russian Left Front, Sergey Udaltsov, is imprisoned in Russia.[141][142][143] In February 2022, Mélenchon condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[144] After Sergey Udaltsov expressed support for the invasion of Ukraine, Mélenchon cut his political ties with him and condemned his stance.[145] In October 2022 he hosted three Russian opponents to Putin, Alexey Sakhnin, Andreï Roudoï and Elizabeta Smirnova, members of the "coalition of Russian socialists against the war".[146]

Syria

Mélenchon favoured a United Nations-led intervention in Syria featuring all nations on the UN Security Council. He opposes intervention without international cooperation.[147] After the chemical attack in Ghouta, he said that a strike on Syria "would be an enormous mistake" leading to escalation and called instead for a "political solution".[148]

Mélenchon has compared an intervention in Syria to Iraq,[149] and has approved of Russia's intervention in Syria, saying that he believes Vladimir Putin will resolve the ISIS problem in Syria, noting "It was the Russians who cut off the lines of supply that Daesh used to smuggle oil to Turkey".[134][150] He said many times that he believed Putin could not be left to solve the problem in Syria alone, saying: "The UN will solve the problem ... it's time for an international coalition".[151]

In response to the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Melenchon tweeted: "If Turkish footballers do the military salute, they must expect to be treated as the soldiers of an enemy army. So we do not play football against them. The basics of sportsmanship are no longer there!"[152][153]

Saudi Arabia

During a European Parliament session on 8 June 2016 concerning Venezuela, Mélenchon criticised what he called European hypocrisy, comparing European tolerance of Saudi Arabian rule and intolerance of Venezuelan rule.[154]

In June 2016, Mélenchon criticized the Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war and the Macron government's support for the war effort of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which contributed to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.[155]

Venezuela

In 2018, Mélenchon described the countries that denounced the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election were "puppets of the United States". He said that the date of the election was agreed upon with the approval of former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and that some of the opposition had decided to boycott it.[156]

Iran

Following the 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike that resulted in the killing of major general Qasem Soleimani, Mélenchon tweeted: "We must equally condemn the USA and Iran as warmongers. My condemnation of the USA does not exempt Iran from the fact that it is a theocracy that wants to destroy the State of Israel."[157] On French news channel LCI, he declared: "the current government of Iran claims it wants to destroy the State of Israel. This is an intolerable project which in itself creates incredible tension in the region, and obviously favors extremes on either side."[158]

Israel and Palestine

Mélenchon is a strong supporter of Palestinian statehood and is a harsh critic of Israel, which he regards as a colonial state.[159][160][161] After Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party lost the 2019 United Kingdom general election, he claimed that the election results were influenced by the Israeli Likud Party.[162]

In 2024, Mélenchon condemned Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip as “genocide” and supported South Africa's genocide case against Israel.[163][164]

On 4 October 2024, three days before the one year anniversery of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, Melenchon called for "putting Palestinian flags everywhere" in universities after 7 October, in response to Patrick Hetzel calling for a "maintenance of order" on university grounds.[165]

Defence

In 2017, Mélenchon called for French withdrawal from the integrated command of NATO,[166][167][failed verification] and in 2022 advocated for France assuring its own defence.[168]

Regionalism

Mélenchon comes from a left-wing tradition that emphasises the unity of the French Republic and is suspicious of regionalism. Nevertheless, Mélenchon has no fixed position on regionalism, but has stated that he supports the teaching of regional languages, especially Breton.[169] He supports state funding for the teaching of the Breton language.[170] He has gone against autonomy for Brittany, even criticising socialists from the region for promoting "autonomy".[171]

In 2018, Mélenchon was asked a question about an anti-corruption investigation by a journalist from Toulouse, Véronique Gaurel. He responded by mocking her accent, accusing her of "talking nonsense" and then asking "has anyone got a question in more or less comprehensible French?". Video of the exchange was circulated widely on social media and sparked a debate about whether discrimination based on regional accents should be made illegal.[172] Mélenchon apologised for his comment, claiming he thought the journalist was mocking him.[173]

Controversies

Interactions with the media

Mélenchon is often highly critical of the media, and has asked his supporters to monitor and film journalists, especially of Le Monde and Libération.[174] Mélenchon has insulted numerous journalists. He labelled Renaud Revel of L'Express a "dirty little spy" and called the magazine "fascist".[175] In 2021 he was found guilty of public defamation after calling a Le Monde journalist a reformed assassin and a CIA muse on his blog in November 2016.[176] He frequently criticises Germany and German policy, leading to spats with German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, which has run articles calling him a "demagogue" and "a hater of Germany."[177][178]

Accusations of antisemitism

In 2013, Mélenchon referred to French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici as "one of those 17 Eurogroup bastards [finance ministers]" putting pressure on Cyprus as it urgently sought a bail-out solution to its debt crisis. He said that "Moscovici behaves like someone who has stopped thinking in French, like someone who thinks only in the language of international finance." Harlem Désir stated that "Mélenchon should immediately withdraw these unacceptable comments that he made using the vocabulary of the 1930s". Mélenchon responded that he "had no idea of Pierre Moscovici’s religion and [had] no intention of making an issue of it in the future".[179]

In August 2014, during a speech in Grenoble, Mélenchon criticised the Representative Council of Jews of France (CRIF), a coalition of organisations representing French Jewry, saying "We’ve had enough of CRIF. France is the opposite of aggressive communities that lecture to the rest of country." He also stated "We do not believe that any people is superior to another", which was viewed by his critics as an allusion to the Torah's designation of Jews as the "chosen people".[180] Cnaan Liphshiz said that Mélenchon's comments came in the wake of a series of protests in France against Israel's 2014 Gaza War. While antisemitic attacks had also been reported in France within the previous month,[181] Liphshiz wrote that Mélenchon was referring instead to French Jews "rally[ing] in front of the embassy of a foreign country or serv[ing] its flag, weapon in hand."[182]

In July 2017, Mélenchon maintained that Republican France bears no guilt in the Holocaust, and criticised Emmanuel Macron for admitting at a gathering in Paris remembering the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup that Vichy France was the legal French government at the time, thus conceding the French State's responsibility in the deportation of the Jews. Mélenchon's comments were echoing those of François Mitterrand, a former president, who declared in 1994 that the round-up and deportation of Jews to death camps during the war was the work of the country's Nazi occupiers and "Vichy France", an illegitimate entity distinct from France. Haaretz noted that Marine Le Pen had made comments similar to Mélenchon's three months earlier.[183]

Following the murder in March 2018 in Paris of Mireille Knoll, an elderly Jewish woman who survived the events at Vel d'Hiv and the Holocaust, CRIF leadership requested Mélenchon stay away from a march in her memory; Mireille's son, Daniel, said that "everyone without exception" could attend, and that, "CRIF is being political, I’m opening my heart to all those who have a mother".[184] As with Marine Le Pen, who made the same choice to be present, despite the appeal, he was booed and abused by a group of angry protesters.[185] In November 2019, Mélenchon further accused CRIF of practising "blatant, violent, and aggressive sectarianism, namely against me", after it asked him not to attend the memorial ceremony for Knoll more than 18 months earlier. No physical violence occurred at the march; police accompanied Mélenchon and his team away from the proceedings.[186]

In December 2019, Mélenchon deplored that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn gave in to the accusations of antisemitism in his party, saying Corbyn "had to endure, unaided, churlish anti-Semitism claims from England's chief rabbi and various influence networks linked to Likud. Instead of riposting, he spent his time apologising and making pledges ... It showed a weakness that troubled the popular sectors [of the electorate]."[187][188]

Mélenchon in 2019

In 2020, while interviewed about the French police, Mélenchon said: "I don't know if Jesus was on a cross, but he was apparently put there by his own people." This declaration was condemned by the Wiesenthal Center, who said that it was spreading belief in Jewish deicide; they noted that this allegation was condemned by the Second Vatican Council's declaration Nostra Aetate, and noted that "its imagery fuelled violence across Europe, culminating in the Nazi Holocaust".[189] In October 2021, Mélenchon was again accused of antisemitism, after he claimed Jewish tradition was opposed to assimilation, and that far-right Éric Zemmour's position on immigration was rooted in this opposition. His remark was condemned as antisemitic by political figures across the political spectrum, such as Christophe Castaner (LREM), Gilbert Collard (RN), and Pierre Moscovici (PS).[190]

In early June 2024, Mélenchon wrote in a blog post that antisemitism was "residual" and "absent" from pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Éric Dupond-Moretti disagreed with this characterisation and accusations were levied that Mélenchon was minimising the increase of antisemitic acts since the beginning of the Gaza War.[191]

Accusations of promoting conspiracy theories

In 2011, journalist Rudy Reichstadt, director of Conspiracy Watch, commented that while it would be "quite unfair" to call Mélenchon a conspiracy theorist, he did sometimes abet antisemitic conspiracy theories by downplaying them or making excuses for those who promulgate them.[192]

In June 2021, Mélenchon predicted that, in the last week of the 2022 presidential campaign, there would be a "grave incident or murder" that would be used to "point the finger at the Muslims and to invent a civil war". He cited the attack on retiree Paul Voise in 2002 shortly before the 1st round of the presidential election, the Jihadist attack against a Jewish school in Toulouse by Mohammed Merah a few months before the presidential election of 2012, and the terrorist attack in Paris a few days before the first round of the 2017 presidential election. His statements were supported by his own party and condemned by other political parties.[193] He later clarified that he was referring to "murderers [who] are waiting for the best time to get people talking about them" and the politicians who use these events for electoral purposes. Reichstadt described Mélenchon's statement as "ambiguous" and quite close to conspiracy beliefs. He claimed that Mélenchon has been promoting conspiracy theories for several years.[194]

Political career offices

Governmental functions
  • Minister of Vocational Education, 2000–2002
Electoral mandates
  • National Assembly
  • European Parliament
  • Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2017
  • Senate
  • Senator of Essonne, 1986–2000 (became minister in 2000), 2004–2010 (resignation, elected in European Parliament in 2009). Elected in 1986, re-elected in 1995 and 2004. At the age of 35, he was the youngest member of the Senate when he was initially elected to it.
  • General Council
    • Vice-president of the General Council of Essonne, 1998–2001
    • General councillor of Essonne, 1985–1992, 1998–2004. Re-elected in 1998.
  • Municipal Council
    • Deputy-mayor of Massy, Essonne, 1983–1995
    • Municipal councillor of Massy, Essonne, 1983–2001. Re-elected in 1989 and 1995.
Political function

Publications

Mélenchon's published works include:

  • Mélenchon, Jean-Luc; Amar, Cécile (22 March 2017). De la vertu (in French). Editions de l'Observatoire. ISBN 979-1-03-290059-8.
  • Mélenchon, Jean-Luc (1 December 2016). L'avenir en commun : Le programme de la France insoumise et son candidat (in French). Seuil. ISBN 978-2021317510.
  • Mélenchon, Jean-Luc (16 November 2016). Le hareng de Bismarck: Le poison allemand (in French) (paperback ed.). J'ai lu. ISBN 978-2290127940.
  • Mélenchon, Jean-Luc (8 October 2014). L'ère du peuple (in French). Fayard. ISBN 978-2213685755.

Distinctions

Notes

  1. ^ For the results, see "Elections Législatives – Results". France 24. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  2. ^ Both the Ministry of the Interior and the French Council of State, the most important body for French administrative justice, consider La France Insoumise to be left-wing.[26][27][28] La France Insoumise is often translated in English as "France in Revolt", "Unsubmissive France",[1] and "Unbowed France".[29]
  3. ^ For the results, see "Élections législatives de 2017". Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Outre-mer (in French). Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  4. ^ About NUPES, political scientist Christopher Bickerton stated that "it would be a mistake to see La France Insoumise as a 21st century reincarnation of the PCF; the ideological and organisational differences are too stark. It would also be wrong to think of NUPES as a present-day version of the 1972 Common Programme, which briefly united the communists and socialists around an agreed set of policies. NUPES is not another step in the long march of the French Left; it is the expression of a much wider unravelling of French politics, which has been playing out on the Right and the Left for the last 30 years."[32]
  5. ^ For the results, see "Election présidentielle 2022". Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Outre-mer (in French). Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  6. ^ According to Aurélien Dubuisson, an associate researcher at the Sciences Po Historical Centre and author of The Far Left in France published by the Blaise Pascal University Press, labelling Mélenchon or La France Insoumise as far left is "a mistake that has been made in recent years, especially by the right wing of the political spectrum". Dubuisson cites Mitterrand's programme from 1981, which he said would be considered "the worst extremist of the moment. But in 1981, the political context was different, it was permeated by left-wing themes."[64] According to political scientist Rémi Lefebvre, "Jean-Luc Mélenchon is not in favour of the abolition of capitalism, but he proposes its regulation by the state, a high level of public spending, high taxation."[65] According to Lefebvre, it is a programme of part of a socialism that is "very interventionist, very reformist, which believes in the essential role of public services, in ecological planning, in redistribution", and that what it questions is "more ultraliberalism than capitalism itself".[65] Lefebvre shares Dubuisson's view that the programme is no more radical than Mitterand's,[66] saying that "it is not revolutionary, but reformist ... It is difficult to compare, as the level of public spending varies greatly from one era to another. However, Mélenchon's programme, like Mitterrand's, is based on state interventionism and in this it is no more radical than the common program of the time."[65] In contrast to far-left parties, in the words of Olivier Favier, Mélenchon "plays fully the game of the ballot box and does not plan to take power through the Revolution. This last feature remains, for the institutions of the Republic, as for the community of historians and political scientists, an essential criterion of definition."[67]
  7. ^ According to political scientist Philippe Marlière, Mélenchon could be described as a populist leader as early as 2010, when he declared himself to be one. In the 2010 interview, Mélenchon stated: "I don't want to defend myself anymore against the accusation of populism. People are disgusted by the elites. Do they deserve anything better? They should all quit! I'm calling upon the energy of the many against the arrogance of the privileged classes. Am I a populist? Yes I am!"[107] Of populism, Marlière summarised: "From Napoleon III to Charles de Gaulle, in recent times, populism has characterised right-wing or extreme-right regimes or leaderships. It has helped label demagogic policies and the art of exploiting people's fears and frustration. Given the near-exclusive association of populism with the far-right, the diagnosis of populism often extends to 'demonisation'. Conversely, the left in France has always supported collegial forms of leadership and put the emphasis on collective endeavours. For communists and socialists, populism neglects class struggles because it focusses on an undefined 'people'. Consequently, 'populism' and 'left' are arguably incompatible notions because a proper populist strategy can only appeal to far-right voters."[107]
  8. ^ In the run-up to the 2017 French presidential election, Mélenchon launched a populist strategy, in what Marlière described it as "a radical break with the collective forms of leadership and action on the French left", and added: "In true populist fashion, the FI leader wants to federate 'the people', and not simply left-wing voters. He has ceased to use the notion of left altogether."[107] According to Marlière, populism is not part of the French left, which historically rejected populist movements, ideas, and leaders, citing as "a clear refutation of leader-centric populism" the original version of "The Internationale", where Eugène Pottier wrote: "There are no supreme saviours, neither God, nor Caesar, nor eloquent speakers, producers, let's save ourselves."[107] In the words of Marlière, that of Mélenchon was "an attempt to organise the masses along the lines of an agonistic cleavage between 'the people' and 'the elite', and this was also a radical break with the collective forms of leadership and action on the French left. The gamble paid off as Mélenchon received significant support from segments of left-wing voters in the first round of the presidential election."[107] According to Marlière, "Mélenchon's style, strategy and politics have energised fragments of the left-wing electorate (the young and working-class voters notably) but they have also created tensions with other parties of the left. Those organisations fear that Mélenchon's 'populist moment' may be detrimental to the future of left-wing politics in France altogether."[107] In regards to the types of populism, Marlière wrote: "What defines FI's populism is the role and the centrality of the leader. One may wonder whether populism is the best strategy to broaden the left's electorate as left-wing and right-wing populisms do not tap in the same culture and do not express the same feelings. On the left, the anger is directed at free market economics. On the far right, the hatred of foreigners and immigrants is the main motivation. Both feelings and mindsets are incompatible: the former has a positive mindset whereas the latter is based on resentment."[107]

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