http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/18/jean-luc-melenchon-french-presidential-poll
http://www.france24.com/en/20120318-tens-thousands-march-leftist-french-candidate
AFP - Tens of thousands marched in Paris on Sunday to support firebrand leftist presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has shaken up France's election campaign with a surprise jump in the polls.
Melenchon of the Left Front, who represents a coalition of leftist parties including the Communists, has emerged as a significant factor in the campaign just as Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande faces a resurgent threat from incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy.
His virulent attacks on the rich, France's elite and austerity measures have struck a chord with many voters and polls this week showed him surpassing the symbolic 10 percent mark, up four points from the start of the year, with only five weeks to go before the April 22 first round of voting.
Waving a sea of red Left Front and Communist Party flags, tens of thousands of supporters marched through central Paris under cloudy skies in a symbolic rally to "retake the Bastille" -- the square where the medieval fortress and prison was stormed during the iconic moment of the French Revolution.
Far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon calls for a 'civic insurrection' in France
Leader of Leftist Front makes gains in French presidential race but François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy still likely to top polls
Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon gestures as he speaks at Place de la Bastille in Paris. Photograph: Michel Euler/AP
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the charismatic far-left firebrand whose anti-capitalist stance has seen him rise sharply in the French presidential polls, on Sunday told a vast Paris street rally that France should rise up in a "civic insurrection".
Mélenchon's symbolic open-air rally at the Place de la Bastille, emblem of the French revolution, attracted tens of thousands in an important show of force for France's "Left of the Left", buoyed by the financial crisis and disillusionment with the main political parties.
The MEP – who is famous for his scathing, banker-bashing rhetoric – is running for president representing a coalition of leftists which includes the once-powerful Communist party.
A one-time Trotskyist and former teacher, he spent 30 years in the Socialist party, where he served as a minister and senator, before leaving to form his own Front de Gauche or Leftist Front.
He recently surged above the 10% mark in the polls, a sharp rise which has eaten into the score of the Socialist frontrunner François Hollandeand delighted the rightwing president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is seeking to exploit differences on the left in his difficult battle for re-election.
Sarkozy has praised Mélenchon's charisma against what he has called the blandness of Hollande.
Mélenchon claims he is winning the ideological battle of the French presidential election, saying his anti-fat cat stance had been mimicked by both Hollande's proposed 75% tax on income over €1m (£830,000) and Sarkozy's promised crackdown on tax exiles.
Hollande and Sarkozy are currently tipped to take the top two places in the 22 April first round and face each other in a 6 May runoff.
Other candidates in the race are the National Front's Marine Le Pen and the centrist François Bayrou.
Mélenchon is locked in a vicious battle with Le Pen for the protest and working class vote. A favourite on TV debate shows for his explosive performances, he directs his most virulent jibes at Le Pen, whom he has called "a bat", "half-demented" and a "dark presence". Last autumn he also accused Hollande of being a "pedal boat captain".
The French left still labours under the shadow of April 2002, when the Socialist candidate was knocked out of the election by the far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen after several leftist candidates fragmented the vote. Pollsters say an upset of that kind is unlikely this year.
But Hollande has recently stressed the importance of voting in the first round for the person most likely to win against Sarkozy, ie himself.
Mélenchon is expected to rally behind Hollande in the second-round runoff. Polls show Hollande would easily win the final vote. Mélenchon could then possibly be considered for a ministerial seat in a future leftwing government.
His manifesto promises include a return to retirement at 60 (from the proposed 62) and capping maximum annual salaries at €340,000, with any earnings above that to be confiscated by the state.
Part of Mélenchon's high showing in the polls comes from the low profile of other far-left and Trotskyist candidates in this election.
The latest poll by Ifop for Le Journal du Dimanche put Sarkozy on 27.5%, Hollande on 27% and Le Pen on 17% in the first round. If the poll is correct, Hollande would beat Sarkozy in the second round by 54% to 46%.
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AFP - Tens of thousands marched in Paris on Sunday to support firebrand leftist presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has shaken up France's election campaign with a surprise jump in the polls.
Melenchon of the Left Front, who represents a coalition of leftist parties including the Communists, has emerged as a significant factor in the campaign just as Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande faces a resurgent threat from incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy.
His virulent attacks on the rich, France's elite and austerity measures have struck a chord with many voters and polls this week showed him surpassing the symbolic 10 percent mark, up four points from the start of the year, with only five weeks to go before the April 22 first round of voting.
Waving a sea of red Left Front and Communist Party flags, tens of thousands of supporters marched through central Paris under cloudy skies in a symbolic rally to "retake the Bastille" -- the square where the medieval fortress and prison was stormed during the iconic moment of the French Revolution.
Organisers said more than 100,000 people took part in the rally, held on the anniversary of the Paris Commune uprising of 1871 and which was to end with a speech by Melenchon at Place de la Bastille.
"Melenchon represents the only political force that truly represents the French people," supporter Sylvianne Tardieu, a 50-year-old Communist from the central city of Clermont-Ferrand, said at the rally.
"He is fighting against the world of finance for the French people," she said.
Organisers hailed the rally, where marchers carried placards reading "Take Power!" and "The citizens' revolution is on the march", as a major step forward in Melenchon's campaign.
"This is a big success, it's the biggest public gathering of the election campaign so far," Melenchon advisor Eric Coquerel told BFM television.
"We can go much higher," he said of Melenchon's poll numbers. "Our campaign is gaining credibility... We are targeting the second round."
The latest IFOP poll released Sunday showed Melenchon with 11 percent support in the first round.
It also showed right-wing Sarkozy, who this week for the first time moved ahead of Hollande in first-round intentions, with 27.5 percent of the vote compared to 27 percent for his Socialist rival.
Hollande, the longstanding poll-leader, was still forecast to comfortably win the May 6 second round with 54 percent to 46 percent for Sarkozy.
Sensing the threat on his left flank, Hollande has suggested to left-wing voters that a vote for Melenchon could hand victory to the right.
"Every vote is useful," Hollande said when asked about Melenchon's surge this week. "I do not want to question this or that choice by voters, but everyone must understand what is at stake."
"Melenchon represents the only political force that truly represents the French people," supporter Sylvianne Tardieu, a 50-year-old Communist from the central city of Clermont-Ferrand, said at the rally.
"He is fighting against the world of finance for the French people," she said.
Organisers hailed the rally, where marchers carried placards reading "Take Power!" and "The citizens' revolution is on the march", as a major step forward in Melenchon's campaign.
"This is a big success, it's the biggest public gathering of the election campaign so far," Melenchon advisor Eric Coquerel told BFM television.
"We can go much higher," he said of Melenchon's poll numbers. "Our campaign is gaining credibility... We are targeting the second round."
The latest IFOP poll released Sunday showed Melenchon with 11 percent support in the first round.
It also showed right-wing Sarkozy, who this week for the first time moved ahead of Hollande in first-round intentions, with 27.5 percent of the vote compared to 27 percent for his Socialist rival.
Hollande, the longstanding poll-leader, was still forecast to comfortably win the May 6 second round with 54 percent to 46 percent for Sarkozy.
Sensing the threat on his left flank, Hollande has suggested to left-wing voters that a vote for Melenchon could hand victory to the right.
"Every vote is useful," Hollande said when asked about Melenchon's surge this week. "I do not want to question this or that choice by voters, but everyone must understand what is at stake."
But Melenchon's supporters rejected the idea that voting for the candidate could lead to a victory for Sarkozy.
"We are pushing ideas for change," Sebastien Goyard, a 27-year-old social security worker from Paris, said during the march.
"If we don't vote with our principles in the first round, change is not possible," he said.
Melenchon, a 60-year-old former Socialist minister, split with the party in 2008 to found his own party and was elected to the European Parliament in 2009.
"We are pushing ideas for change," Sebastien Goyard, a 27-year-old social security worker from Paris, said during the march.
"If we don't vote with our principles in the first round, change is not possible," he said.
Melenchon, a 60-year-old former Socialist minister, split with the party in 2008 to found his own party and was elected to the European Parliament in 2009.
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