Paris (EFE).- Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the 74-year-old leader of the main left-wing party, La France Insoumise (LFI), announced on Sunday that he will run in the Apr. 2027 presidential election to succeed Emmanuel Macron. It will be his fourth attempt to reach the Élysée Palace.
Considered one of the most controversial political figures in France, Mélenchon justified his new attempt in an interview with TF1, citing the urgency of the national and international political landscape.
«Privilege and racism hurt our country the most,» the left-wing politician denounced, claiming that if he becomes president, he will ally with Spain and «other Latin American countries» against the United States under President Donald Trump and Israel.
Although the 2027 French electoral landscape is still unclear, Mélenchon is currently the only confirmed major candidate. Several polls already rank him among the progressive leaders who could receive significant support in the first round.
However, those same polls predict his defeat in a second round against the far right, whether against Marine Le Pen (pending a judicial decision allowing her to run) or her protégé, Jordan Bardella.
The most recent poll, published Sunday night, shows Mélenchon’s ability to polarize voters, with 84% saying they do not want him as a candidate.
In the same interview, the veteran politician affirmed that the National Rally (RN) party of Le Pen and Bardella «is my main adversary because it seems that it is going to win.»
However, he cast doubt on the national-populist force’s victory: «I don’t even know if they will reach the second round.»
In France’s fragmented political landscape, Mélenchon is a figure of little consensus. The right and center accuse him of antisemitism for his statements on the Arab-Israeli conflict, as does part of the moderate left.
Despite forging two successful electoral alliances with the Socialist Party (PS) in the 2022 and 2024 legislative elections, the LFI leader is at odds with his former party, creating a schism between the two main progressive currents in the country.
His project for the foundation of the Sixth French Republic, which would grant more power to Parliament and hold popular consultations, as well as his «New France» project, which advocates for mixing cultures and races, have won over the outskirts of large French cities, where much of the population originates from the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa. EFE
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