The rebellious candidate for the presidency has indeed put himself in the role of the main opponent of the outgoing president, while he is given in third or fourth position according to the polls.

This march by the LFI candidate at the Elysée Palace, which was intended to be a demonstration of force on the left in line with those in 2012 and 2017, was to contribute to strengthening the candidacy of the tribune of the radical left, which is located according to the average of the polls in third or fourth place.

He himself claims to have to find "five points in three weeks" in order to qualify while the staffs of the candidates agree that the threshold for accessing the second round is historically low, below 20% of voting intentions .

For the Insoumis, the idea is to encourage the "effective" vote on the left, while the candidate has been in the best position for weeks in the polls of voting intentions (around 13%).

At the end of a march by his supporters from Place de la Bastille to Place de la République, Jean-Luc Mélenchon held a meeting on the latter, in front of 100,000 people according to the organizers, who filled part of the square, brandishing many French flags and its "popular union".

After previous editions in 2012 and 2017, "this march is the third to say with all our might that we no longer want this presidential monarchy", exclaimed the tribune.

"Here comes the hour of the Sixth Republic. It will be the work of a constituent assembly and not of a small committee of experts, elected by people who will never have been elected", he said. Explain.

This assembly would work for two years, and at the same time the government appointed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon would apply the rest of the candidate's program.

"It's the writing of another rule of the game, an incentive to reinvest in the life of the country," said the Insoumis.

For him, "this is an opportunity to advance two ideas: both the stability of institutions and the possibility for the people to intervene permanently, thanks to the citizens' initiative referendum (RIC) and the recall referendum" .

Compared to 1958 and the beginning of the Fifth Republic, "it's another French people who are there", more "urban", "connected", "a people proud and happy to be already creolized", assured the MP for Bouches-du-Rhône.

The candidate also "warned" left-wing voters and abstainers in view of April 10: "This vote is a social referendum", in particular between Emmanuel Macron's retirement plan at 65 and that at 60 that he carries.

Mr. Mélenchon spoke of "moral responsibility" while the left is fragmented into several candidacies: "Do not hide behind the differences between leaders, it is you who make the decision, do not hide!"

© 2022 AFP