Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who has been the ''de facto'' leader of

La France Insoumise La France Insoumise (LFI or FI; , ) is a left-wing political party in France. It was launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims to implement th ...

(LFI) since it was established in 2016. He was the deputy in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

for the 4th constituency of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

from 2017 to 2022 and led the

La France Insoumise group The La France insoumise – New Popular Front group () is a parliamentary group in the National Assembly founded following the 2017 legislative election. It is chaired by Mathilde Panot since 2021, having previously been led by Jean-Luc Mél ...

in the National Assembly from 2017 to 2021. Mélenchon was previously elected as a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) in 2009 and reelected in 2014. He has run for

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

three times, in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. 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 Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS) in 1976, Mélenchon was successively elected a municipal councillor of Massy (1983) and general councillor of

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, 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 Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...

. 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 An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

of the Left Front before the

2009 European Parliament election in France European Parliament elections were held in France on Sunday 7 June 2009 to elect the 72 French Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament. Due to the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in the European Union in 2007, the n ...

; 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 Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round Two-round system, run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territ ...

, in which he came in fourth, receiving 11.1% of the first-round vote. In February 2016, Mélenchon founded

. He stood as a candidate in the

2017 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 23 April and 7 May 2017. Incumbent president François Hollande of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS) was eligible to run for a second term, but declared on 1 December 2016 that he wo ...

, 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 Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 11 and 18 June 2017 (with different dates for voters overseas) to elect the 577 Member of Parliament (France), members of the 15th legislature of the French Fifth Rep ...

, receiving 59.9% in the second round in the 4th constituency of

, located in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

(France's second-largest city). Mélenchon stood again under the LFI banner in the

2022 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 10 and 24 April 2022. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a Two-round system, runoff was held, in which Emmanuel Macron defeated Marine Le Pen and was re-elected as President of France. ...

, 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 The New Ecological and Social People's Union (, NUPES) was a Left-wing politics, left-wing electoral alliance of List of political parties in France, political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance included La France Insoumise ( ...

(NUPES) alliance of parties to a second-place performance in the

2022 French legislative election Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 Deputy (France), members of the 16th National Assembly (France), National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic. Th ...

. LFI was confirmed as the largest party of the

French left The French Left () refers to communist, socialist, social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic ...

in the

2024 French legislative election Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 30 June and 7 July 2024 (and one day earlier for some voters outside of metropolitan France) to elect all 577 Deputy (France), members of the 17th legislature of th ...

, where the left-wing

New Popular Front The New Popular Front ( , NFP) is a broad Left-wing politics, left-wing electoral alliance with centre-left politics, centre-left and far-left politics, far-left factions in France. It was launched on 10 June 2024 to contest the 2024 French leg ...

(NFP) achieved a plurality of seats and LFI was confirmed as the largest

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

group in the National Assembly.

Biography

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

Mélenchon was born in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

(

Tangier International Zone The Tangier International Zone (; ; ) was a international zone centered on the city of Tangier, Morocco, which existed from 1925 until its reintegration into independent Morocco in 1956, with interruption during the Spanish occupation of Tang ...

), Morocco. His father, Georges, was a

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Spanish descent, and his mother, Jeanine Bayona, was a primary school teacher of Spanish and Sicilian descent. He grew up in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, until his family moved to France in 1962. Mélenchon was then educated at the

Lycée Pierre-Corneille The Lycée Pierre-Corneille (; also known as the Lycée Corneille) is a state secondary school located in the city of Rouen, France. Founded by the Jesuits in 1593, the school was secularized following the 1905 French law on the Separation of th ...

, a state secondary school in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, Normandy. He graduated in 1972. With a degree in philosophy from the

University of Franche-Comté The Marie and Louis Pasteur University (UMLP), formerly known as University of Franche-Comté, is a pluridisciplinary public French university located in Besançon, Franche-Comté, with decentralized campuses in Belfort, Montbéliard, Vesoul and ...

in Besançon and having gained a CAPES, he became a teacher before entering politics. He was originally a follower of

Pierre Lambert : Pierre Lambert (; real name Pierre Boussel ; June 9, 1920 – January 16, 2008) was a French Trotskyist leader, who for many years acted as the central leader of the French Courant Communiste Internationaliste (CCI) which founded the Worke ...

and a member of the

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

movement before supporting

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

and joining the

(PS).

Socialist Mitterrandist leader (1976–1986)

Mélenchon left

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

to enter professional life in

Lons-le-Saunier Lons-le-Saunier () is a commune and capital of the Jura Department, eastern France. Geography The town is in the heart of the Revermont region, at the foot of the first plateau of the Jura massif. The Jura escarpment extends to the east a ...

( Jura), and joined the PS in September 1976. He was part of the

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...

and left-wing of the PS. Mélenchon did not join the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

(PCF) because of the latter's refusal to condemn the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 to end the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

, an event that he said had significantly affected him in political terms, even more than the

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

, which occurred when he was still a university student and he became leader of the

student movement Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. In addition to education, student groups often play central roles in democratization and winning civil rights. Modern stu ...

at the University of Besançon, and was one of the causes of his joining in 1972 the

Internationalist Communist Organisation The Internationalist Communist Organisation (, OCI) was a Trotskyist political party in France. Its successor was the Internationalist Communist Current of the Workers Party (France), Workers Party. History Origins The group's origins lay in the ...

. 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 Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.private secretary. 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 Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 199 ...

and the Centre of Socialist Studies, Research, and Education (CERES) of

Jean-Pierre Chevènement Jean-Pierre Chevènement (; born 9 March 1939) ...

. He was elected senator during the senatorials of 1986, and again in 1995 and 2004. 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 Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

of dozens of banks electricity companies, engineering companies, and motorways, the doubling of the budget of the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

, 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 In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...

rest on a lack of political courage, a lack of strategy on the left of the left, and a lack of mass mobilisation.

Socialist Party (1986–2008)

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

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 A referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held in France on 29 May 2005 to decide whether the French government should ratify the proposed constitution of the European Union. The result was a victory for the "no" cam ...

, 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. 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". On 6 November 2008, the Socialist militants voted to decide between six motions. The motion supported by

Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...

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. 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, 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". They announced "the construction of a new left-wing party", simply called the Left Party (on the German model of

Die Linke Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The ...

), and called for "the constitution of a left-wing front for the European elections". 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 Oskar Lafontaine (; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician. He served as Minister-President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998 and was federal leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1995 to 1999. He was the lead candidat ...

. Mélenchon became the party president. Until 2014, he was also co-president alongside Martine Billard.

First presidential candidacy (2012)

A political outsider, Mélenchon was the candidate representing the Left Front ( Communist Party of France, Left Party, Unitary Left) in the

. He took fourth place and achieved 11.10% of the vote, trailing behind

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

, and

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

and their respective parties (the PS, the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

, and the National Front). In comparison, the winner, Hollande, received 28.63% of the vote. It was the first time the non-socialist left had registered a double figure result since Georges Marchais in 1981. In the

2012 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 10 and 17 June 2012 (and on other dates for small numbers of voters outside metropolitan France) to select the members of the 14th National Assembly of France, National Assembly of the Fifth French R ...

, 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. 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.

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

. During an interview on the French television channel

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

on 10 February 2016, Melenchon launched the left-wing political platform

, without any expectation of victory. 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 The Ecologists – Europe Ecology The Greens (), commonly known as The Ecologists (, LE) and formerly as Europe Ecology The Greens ( , EELV ) until 2023, is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of th ...

like Sergio Coronado, an assembly member for the 2nd Overseas Constituency, and the mayor of Grenoble, Éric Piolle. 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. 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". 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." 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 Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...

, 58–41, 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." Mélenchon, who saw himself as "outside the frame of political parties", held at a consistent 12% for most of the campaign, until a late upwards surge which put him just behind third place

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

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%; 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. 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. 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. 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 Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

France, and

ONE Campaign ONE Campaign (styled as ONE) is an international, non-partisan, non-profit organization advocating for the investments needed to create economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. The campaigning organization uses data, grassroots ac ...

, 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.

Member of the National Assembly (2017–2022)

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

, which covers parts of the centre of

. He won 59.9% of the vote in the second round against

En Marche! Renaissance (RE) is a List of political parties in France, political party in France that is typically described as liberalism, liberal and centrist or centre-right. The party was originally known as (EM) and later (, LREM, LaREM or REM), be ...

candidate Corrine Versini. He defeated sitting member Patrick Mennucci in the first round, a notable member of the

in Marseille. The collapse of the Socialist Party meant that La France Insoumise had become the ''de facto'' opposition to

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

in the

. His election to the National Assembly drew national media attention. 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. 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. 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.

Third presidential candidacy and NUPES (2022–2023)

2022_French_Presidential_Election_First_Round_Map

Mélenchon was again a candidate in the

. 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 Christiane Marie Taubira (; born 2 February 1952) is a French politician who served as Minister of Justice of France in the governments of Prime Ministers Jean-Marc Ayrault and Manuel Valls under President François Hollande from 2012 until 20 ...

and Yannick Jadot. Taubira withdrew in March, and endorsed Mélenchon. Mélenchon's polling numbers surged in the final weeks of campaigning, putting him within chance of making the second round. In 2017, 21.4% had been enough to gain access to the second round. For the first round of the 2022 presidential election, Mélenchon's strategy was to unite the other left-wing anti-neoliberal parties against

, who attempted to play down his

neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...

in the second round in order to appeal to Mélenchon voters while presenting

as a dangerous nationalist. This dynamic flipped in the

as Mélenchon and La France Insoumise had become part of the

(NUPES), a broad anti-neoliberal coalition. In turn, Macron denounced Mélenchon and the anti-neoliberal NUPES coalition as delusional anti-capitalists. Mélenchon urged his supporters "not to give a single vote to Mrs Le Pen". 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." 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. 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, and in the overseas departments of

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon ( ), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located near the Canada, Canadian prov ...

, and Saint Martin, obtaining majorities in several of these jurisdictions. He also finished first in

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

. Mélenchon did not run for re-election in Bouches-du-Rhône's 4th constituency, instead giving his candidacy to Manuel Bompard. Mélenchon led the NUPES coalition since May 2022. In the 2022 legislative election, NUPES won 131 seats. Amid divisions, NUPES dissolved in 2023.

Political positions

Mélenchon is a

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

republican, inspired primarily by the founder of French republican socialism

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

. During his political career, Mélenchon crossed various tendencies of the

, from

Trotskyism Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

in his youth to more moderate socialism, as he was in the

for almost thirty years, occupying a place on the left wing of the party, before he began a companionship with the

after his departure from the Socialist Party in 2008. He rejects the labels of radical left or

far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

that the press has often ascribed to his political positions. 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. 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". Historian Sudhir Hazareesingh described Mélenchon as a "democratic socialist candidate hosymbolises 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". According to sociologist Paolo Gerbaudo, Mélenchon supports

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

and

reformist socialist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, refo ...

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. 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." Mélenchon's radicalism is linked to his criticism of

. According to the Belgian public media

RTBF The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...

, his radical appearance is linked to his criticism of neoliberalism, international treaties, and the functioning of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU), as well as his tax reform. Mélenchon does not support

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

ideas of "

proletarian revolution A proletarian revolution or proletariat revolution is a social revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie and change the previous political system. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialist ...

", as is the case with the

New Anticapitalist Party The New Anticapitalist Party ( , NPA ) is a far-left political party in France founded in February 2009. The party launched with 9,200 members and was intended to unify the fractured movements of the French radical Left, and attract new activ ...

and

Lutte Ouvrière Lutte Ouvrière (, ) is a Trotskyist communist party in France, named after its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller was the party's spokeswoman from 1973 to 2008 and ran in each presidential election until 2012, when Nathalie Arthaud was the candi ...

, and his tax reform is more moderate than that of the far-left. On the political spectrum, Mélenchon is placed on the

political left Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

, including by international news outlets like

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'',

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'', ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''; he is often also classified as

, or

left-wing populist Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often includes elements of anti-elitism, opposition to the E ...

, by Anglo-Saxon news outlets (the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'',

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

, ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...

'', the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''), as well as by the French media whose audience is international (

Euronews Euronews (stylised in lowercase) is a pan-European television news broadcasting, news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. It is a provider of livestreamed news, which can be viewed in Europe and North Africa via satellite, and in most of the ...

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

, and

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

). He is described as a "firebrand leader of the left". Mélenchon is a proponent of increased

labour rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...

and the expansion of French welfare programmes. He has also called for the mass

redistribution of wealth Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, con ...

to rectify existing socioeconomic inequalities. 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, full state reimbursement for health care costs, a reduction in presidential powers in favour of the legislature, and the easing of immigration laws. Mélenchon supports

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and women's right to abortion. He also supports the legalisation of cannabis. 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". 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." 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'." 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". Mélenchon is an outspoken critic of the EU, which he views as having been corrupted through neoliberalism. During his 2012 campaign, Mélenchon positioned himself against the trend towards economic

globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, which he denounced as disproportionately profiting the financial industry and "high income earners" at the expense of the poor. He insisted international organisations such as the EU threatened to "strangle the voice of the people". He supports a renegotiation of European treaties. Mélenchon opposes the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

(NATO), which he perceives as an affront to France's national sovereignty. He has repeatedly called for France to withdraw from NATO. Mélenchon has voiced his support for Rattachism. Mélenchon has been labelled a

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

by numerous diverse people, with the Socialist Party senator Luc Carvounas saying he goes to "the summits of demagoguery and populism", and the magazine ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'' stating that Mélenchon's rhetoric is "shocking" and implying his entire political life is based around pleasing the people. He has been compared to Le Pen in terms of debating style; political scientist Dominique Reynié even went as far as to say he "flirts with xenophobia when it helps him". According to Bickerton, "LFI's starting point is not Marxist dialectics or class conflict, but ''le peuple''". 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." 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". He is inspired by the philosopher

Chantal Mouffe Chantal Mouffe (; born 17 June 1943) is a Belgian political theorist, formerly teaching at University of Westminster. She is best known for her and Ernesto Laclau's contribution to the development of the so-called Essex School of discourse ana ...

, who sought to theorise and rehabilitate the term " left populism". This theory argues that neoliberalism and

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).

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." On 14 September 2014, Mélenchon wrote in ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' 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." 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. The constitutional convention members must not have ever been elected representatives, and they would not be able to present themselves thereafter.

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.

European Parliament

Mélenchon's attendance before the 2012 presidential election was at 63%, and after this, his average is often compiled with pre-2012, so it is compiled at 71.40%. 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. He increased his attendance after that, with the website ''votewatch.eu'' reporting it in 2017 at 85.1%.

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 The term German model is most often used in economics to describe post-World War II West Germany's means of using (according to University College London Professor Wendy Carlin) innovative industrial relations, vocational training, and closer re ...

'. 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!" After the German Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

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.") 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.

Ukraine

In 2014 Mélenchon considered the

2014 Russian annexation of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrain ...

to be "absolutely predictable", stating that "Crimean ports ere considered by Russia asvital 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 Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

. 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. In 2015, Mélenchon referred to Ukraine as a country "struggling to be one". 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". This was criticized as making "obfuscations and excuses for Russia", as there is no such thing as annexation into NATO. He blamed the cause of the conflict between 2014 and 2022 on what he termed as NATO "pushing ever closer to ussia'sborders". Nonetheless, Mélenchon denounced the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, 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". After initially opposing arms deliveries to Ukraine, 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.

Russia

Some commentators claimed Mélenchon "supported Russia" and was sympathetic towards

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. 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 Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov; (9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist, liberalism in Russia, liberal politician, and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. Early in his political career, he was involved in the introduction of reform ...

. Cécile Vaissié, author of ''The Kremlin Networks'', considers Mélenchon as "one of those that approve of Putin", and Yannick Jadot of EELV said that the "pro-Russia" stance is "contrary to any environment thinking". Mélenchon mocked accusations of support for Putin, saying that it is unlikely that an eco-socialist would support Putin, 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." Mélenchon declared opposition to Putin's domestic policy and notes his friend of the Russian Left Front, Sergey Udaltsov, is imprisoned in Russia. In February 2022, Mélenchon condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After Sergey Udaltsov expressed support for the invasion of Ukraine, Mélenchon cut his political ties with him and condemned his stance. 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".

Syria

Mélenchon favoured a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

-led intervention in Syria featuring all nations on the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. He opposes intervention without international cooperation. 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". Mélenchon has compared an intervention in Syria to Iraq, and has approved of Russia's intervention in Syria, saying that he believes Vladimir Putin will resolve the

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

problem in Syria, noting "It was the Russians who cut off the lines of supply that Daesh used to smuggle oil to Turkey". 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". In response to the

2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria On 9 October 2019, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) launched an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and later it involved the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Syria. It was code-named the Op ...

against the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

-led

Syrian Democratic Forces The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurds in Syria, Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed Left-wing politics, left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Democratic Autonomous Administration ...

, 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!"

Saudi Arabia

During a

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

session on 8 June 2016 concerning

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, Mélenchon criticised what he called European hypocrisy, comparing European tolerance of Saudi Arabian rule and intolerance of Venezuelan rule. 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 The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, which contributed to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Venezuela

In 2018, Mélenchon described the countries that denounced the

2018 Venezuelan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 20 May 2018, with incumbent Nicolás Maduro being declared reelected for a second six-year term. The original electoral date was scheduled for December 2018 but was subsequently pulled ahead to ...

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 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. O ...

and that some of the opposition had decided to boycott it.

Iran

Following the 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike that resulted in the killing of major general

Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani (; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his assassination by the United States in 2020, h ...

, 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." 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."

Israel and Palestine

Mélenchon is a strong supporter of

Palestinian statehood The history of the State of Palestine describes the creation and evolution of the State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the British mandate period, numerous plans of partition of Palestine were proposed but without the agr ...

and is a harsh critic of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, which he regards as a colonial state. After

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

and the Labour Party lost the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019, with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Un ...

, he claimed that the election results were influenced by the Israeli Likud Party. In 2024, Mélenchon condemned Israel's military operations in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

as "

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

" and supported South Africa's genocide case against Israel. On 4 October 2024, three days before the one year anniversary of the

7 October Events Pre-1600 *3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar. * 1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon. * 1477 ...

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.

Defence

In 2017, Mélenchon called for French withdrawal from the integrated command of NATO, and in 2022 advocated for France assuring its own defence.

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 Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

. He supports state funding for the teaching of the Breton language. He has gone against autonomy for

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, even criticising socialists from the region for promoting "autonomy". In 2018, Mélenchon was asked a question about an anti-corruption investigation by a journalist from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, 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. Mélenchon apologised for his comment, claiming he thought the journalist was mocking him.

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 ''

'' and ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

''. Mélenchon has insulted numerous journalists. He labelled Renaud Revel of ''

L'Express (, stylized in all caps) is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre-right in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''R� ...

'' a "dirty little spy" and called the magazine "fascist". 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. He frequently criticises Germany and German policy, leading to spats with German newsmagazine

, which has run articles calling him a "demagogue" and "a hater of Germany."

Accusations of antisemitism

In 2013, Mélenchon referred to French Finance Minister

Pierre Moscovici Pierre Moscovici (, ; born 16 September 1957) is a French politician who served as the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 2012 to ...

as "one of those 17 Eurogroup bastards inance 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 Harlem Jean-Philippe Désir (; born 25 November 1959) is a French politician who served as leader of the Socialist Party (PS) from 2012 to 2014. First widely known as a community activist and as the first president of SOS Racisme in the 1980s, ...

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 adno intention of making an issue of it in the future". 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 Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose. The phenomenon of "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term () refers to the ...

". 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, Liphshiz wrote that Mélenchon was referring instead to French Jews "rally ngin front of the embassy of a foreign country or serv ngits flag, weapon in hand." In July 2017, Mélenchon maintained that Republican France bears no guilt in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, and criticised

for admitting at a gathering in Paris remembering the ''

Vel' d'Hiv Roundup The Vel' d'Hiv' Roundup ( ; from , an abbreviation of ) was a mass arrest of Jews in Paris on 16–17 July 1942 by Vichy French police at the behest of the German occupational authorities. Occurring during World War II, Jews arrested during ...

'' that

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of 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

, 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 "

", an illegitimate entity distinct from France. ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'' noted that Marine Le Pen had made comments similar to Mélenchon's three months earlier. 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". 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. 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. In December 2019, Mélenchon deplored that Labour Party leader

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 Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

. Instead of riposting, he spent his time apologising and making pledges ... It showed a weakness that troubled the popular sectors f the electorate" 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 Jewish deicide is the theological position that Jews as a people are collectively responsible for the killing of Jesus, even through the successive generations following his death. The notion arose in early Christianity, and features in the wri ...

; they noted that this allegation was condemned by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

's declaration

Nostra Aetate (from Latin: "In our time"), or the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions, is an official declaration of the Second Vatican Council, an Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. I ...

, and noted that "its imagery fuelled violence across Europe, culminating in the Nazi Holocaust". In October 2021, Mélenchon was again accused of antisemitism, after he claimed

Jewish tradition "Unprintworthy" redirects are redirect pages on Wikipedia that aid online navigation, but would have little or no value as pointers to target articles in a hard-copy book. The name of a redirect may be unprintworthy for a number of reasons, incl ...

was opposed to assimilation, and that far-right

Éric Zemmour Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French History of far-right movements in France, far-right politician, essayist, writer and political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show ...

'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

( PS). In early June 2024, Mélenchon wrote in a blog post that antisemitism was "residual" and "absent" from pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Éric Dupond-Moretti Éric Dupond-Moretti (; born 20 April 1961) is a French-Italian lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Justice (France), Minister of Justice from 2020 to 2024 in the successive governments of Prime Ministers Jean Castex, Élisabeth Borne ...

disagreed with this characterisation and accusations were levied that Mélenchon was minimising the increase of antisemitic acts since the beginning of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

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 A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

by downplaying them or making excuses for those who promulgate them. 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. He later clarified that he was referring to "murderers hoare 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.

Political career offices

; Governmental functions * Minister of Vocational Education, 2000–2002 ; Electoral mandates *

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

for Bouches-du-Rhône's 4th constituency, 2017–2022 *

, 2009–2017 *

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

* Senator of

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

** Deputy-mayor of Massy, Essonne, 1983–1995 ** Municipal councillor of Massy, Essonne, 1983–2001. Re-elected in 1989 and 1995. ; Political function * Co-president of the Left Party, 2008–2014

Publications

Mélenchon's published works include: * * * *

Distinctions

* Grand Officer of the Order of May (

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, 1988) * Named "Politician of the Year" 2012 by '' GQ'' France * Honorary Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Lanús (Argentina) in 2019

Notes

References

External links

*
Page on the French Senate website

MEP webpage

CV
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melenchon, Jean-Luc 1951 births Candidates in the 2012 French presidential election Candidates in the 2017 French presidential election Candidates in the 2022 French presidential election Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Eco-socialists French anti-Zionists French atheists French people of Italian descent French people of Sicilian descent French people of Spanish descent French politicians convicted of crimes French senators of the Fifth Republic French socialists Government ministers of France Internationalist Communist Organisation politicians La France Insoumise politicians Left Party (France) MEPs Left Party (France) politicians Left-wing populists Living people Lycée Pierre-Corneille alumni Members of Parliament for Bouches-du-Rhône MEPs for South-West France 2009–2014 MEPs for South-West France 2014–2019 People from Tangier Senators of Essonne Socialist Party (France) politicians University of Franche-Comté alumni