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Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon unveiled what he called a “revolutionary program” that would upend the economy and rebuild society.
Speaking Saturday at a large rally in the poor, mostly immigrant Seine-Saint-Denis neighborhood north of Paris, he said the country and the planet needed renewal in the name of social justice.
He said: “I have only one thing to offer you: it is time to change everything. »
“The France of rebellion and revolution is our dear country to which we all belong,” he added, reappropriating a far-right slogan which declares that France is his country.
This 75-year-old Eurosceptic and anti-globalization politician is trying for the fourth time to win the French presidency and is rising in the polls. He attracted 20,000 supporters to the event in Seine-Saint-Denis, stronghold of his La France Insoumise party.
Mélenchon received around 18 percent of the vote in opinion polls for the first round of the presidential election conducted in late October by Ipsos and Ifop.
That puts him within striking distance of qualifying for a runoff in next year’s elections, in which he will likely face far-right leader Marine Le Pen. She remains well ahead, with around 35 percent in the first round.
Runoff polls all show him losing heavily to Le Pen in the second round, although public opinion could still shift significantly in the months remaining before the April vote.
Mélenchon has gained momentum since September by supporting widespread protests against the education system and the cost of living that have become a serious challenge to Emmanuel Macron’s government.
Around 600,000 people demonstrated this week, the highest turnout since the movement began in September, stoking political tensions and reinforcing the climate of polarization.
Last month, a racially motivated shooting killed one person and seriously injured four others.
The presidential election will be crucial for France’s relations with the EU as Mélenchon and Le Pen have promised to break with the status quo in everything from the single market to the fight against climate change.
Mélenchon reiterated on Saturday that France should be “non-aligned” in global diplomacy, warned against possible involvement in the war between Ukraine and Russia and criticized US hegemony.
He rejected pollsters’ projections that he would be beaten by Le Pen in the presidential runoff. “That’s what they also told Lula,” he said, referring to the recent surprise return of Brazil’s newly re-elected left-wing president. “We will fight until the last second and, in the end, we will win.”
The gathering, which took place in a large hangar, included musical numbers and short documentaries as well as a cast of dozens of LFI elected officials that Mélenchon said were ready to govern.
The party’s economic program calls for the expansion of the welfare state, sweeping nationalizations including highways and airports, and greater state control over banking and strategic sectors. The price of food, energy and fuel would be controlled by the state.
Mélenchon would lower the retirement age to 60, compared to around 63 currently.
The party has not quantified its program but its policies involve heavy spending and tax increases. France already has the second largest deficit in the euro zone, expected to reach 5.4 percent of GDP by the end of this year.
Mélenchon wants to convert 600 billion euros of French public debt held by the European Central Bank into interest-free loans that would never have to be repaid, a proposal he previously called throwing the debt into the fire.
LFI wants to eradicate what it calls the “financialization” of the economy and stop the growth of inequalities by limiting the gap between the highest and lowest salaries within companies. It would end continued stock trading, limit dividend payments and confiscate any inherited wealth above €12 million.
“Capitalism is a concrete problem, so the radical left has concrete solutions,” Mélenchon said.
A state-led ecological planning system would guide investment and production. Nuclear energy would be gradually abandoned in favor of renewable energies.
Mélenchon also wants to reshape France’s political institutions and social model. He proposes replacing the Fifth Republic with a new constitution, introducing proportional representation and expanding citizens’ powers through referendums. The voting age would be lowered to 16, compared to the current 18.
LFI is committed to fighting racism and discrimination. Party leaders at the rally attacked Le Pen’s party, the Rassemblement National, for its controversial policies, including prioritizing French citizens in social benefits.
Mélenchon attacked Le Pen, to the cheers of the crowd. “The first line of defense against racism is each of us,” he said.
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