The ecologist Yannick Jadot and the rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon took advantage of the parade to discuss their proposals at length 33 days before the first round.

The socialist Anne Hidalgo and the communist Fabien Roussel for their part made only brief passages.

"We are here to say how much the cause of women will be a priority for the next five-year term," Yannick Jadot told the press.

The environmental candidate proposed parental leave of 16 weeks, eight of which are compulsory for both parents, but also equal pay in the company and the inclusion of "abortion in the Constitution".

Without forgetting, "the famous billion euros which will make it possible to get out of impunity on violence against women" also proposed by Anne Hidalgo.

On the right and on the far right, Valérie Pécresse offers "catch-up plans" in companies to achieve equal pay.

Marine Le Pen wants the registration of "street harassers" in the file of sex offenders.

"The question of feminicides is all the same a headache", also insisted Mr. Mélenchon. Concerning equal pay, he proposes to "pass in force" and to increase "by 10%" in the companies that do not comply with the Equality Act.

LFI candidate for the French presidential election Jean-Luc Mélenchon at a meeting in Lyon, March 6, 2022 OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE AFP

Of the 12 candidates in the race for the Élysée, a third are women: Marine Le Pen (RN), Anne Hidalgo (PS), Valérie Pécresse (LR, also the first woman to be nominated candidate for the main right-wing party) and Nathalie Arthaud (LO).

A proportion identical to the elections of 2002 and 2007.

Testimonies against Zemmour

For far-right candidate Éric Zemmour, the day got off to a bad start, with the publication by Mediapart of testimonies from eight women accusing him of inappropriate behavior and sexual assault for alleged facts ranging from 1999 to 2019.

"Mediapart wants to make a hit on Women's Day by recycling testimonials already released last year. Shabby at five weeks of the first round", immediately reacted those around him.

No complaint has been announced against him.

Tuesday evening in Paris, during a meeting with his supporters, he insisted on posing as a "defender of women" and their safety against "big boys" and "scum".

The day before, Éric Zemmour had advocated on LCI "a balance" between the "values" of each sex, arguing that "when there is an excess of feminine values, that is to say peace (…) there is a weakness of society in relation to societies which would remain more virile and which could attack them".

For him, there is no need to act on wage inequality, which according to him is "5%" and will be reduced.

Candidate Emmanuel Macron stressed on Monday that he wanted to make "again" gender equality the "great cause" of his five-year term if he were re-elected.

He proposes the "tripling of the amount of the fine for offenses of sexist contempt" or the "creation of a file of perpetrators of domestic violence".

French President and candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, March 8, 2022 Ludovic MARIN POOL / AFP

The High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life has also unveiled the declarations of the assets and participations of the candidates for the Élysée: around half a million euros in assets for Emmanuel Macron, some 1.2 million for Marine Le Pen. , 4.2 for Eric Zemmour or 9.7 for Valérie Pécresse.

In addition to the first four candidates in the polls, the following declared nearly 1.4 million for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, 412,000 for Yannick Jadot, 220,000 for Fabien Roussel, 575,000 for Anne Hidalgo, some two million euros for Nicolas Dupont -Aignan, around 630,000 euros for Jean Lassalle, 219,000 for Nathalie Arthaud and finally 122,000 euros for Philippe Poutou.

On the far right side, Marion Maréchal, who rallied Eric Zemmour on Sunday, said on BFMTV that she would vote "without hesitation" for Marine Le Pen if she reached the second round against Emmanuel Macron, but defended the ability of its candidate to "weaken the cordon sanitaire" between the right and the extreme right.

"Ultimately, the idea will be to have to come together in particular in the construction of a future presidential majority" in the legislative elections in June, argued the new recruit.

According to an Elabe poll published on Friday evening, Emmanuel Macron reached 33.5% (+8.5 in one week) of the voting intentions expressed, Ms. Le Pen retains a lead over the other contenders in the second round (15%, -2), Mr. Mélenchon (13%, +0.5) overtook Mr. Zemmour on the decline (11%, -3) and distanced Valérie Pécresse (10.5%, -1.5).

Anne Hidalgo is at 1.5%, behind Fabien Roussel (3.5%).

© 2022 AFP