“We were so close to the goal…” Tears and hope at Mélenchon HQ

• Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will face each other on April 24 for the second round of the presidential election.

• If he scores better than in 2017 and places himself far ahead of the other candidates on the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon came third this Sunday, with more than 21% of the vote, in an election marked by strong abstention. .

• A major disappointment for the activists who came to applaud their tribune at the HQ of the Future in common.

“The younger ones will tell me, we didn't make it… It's not far, huh?

Do better!

“It is on these sweet and bitter words that Jean-Luc Mélenchon abandons the microphone, this Sunday evening, in an overexcited atmosphere.

The leader of La France insoumise leaves the stage and all hope of becoming President of the Republic to loud applause and cries of “Resistance!

".

Some activists, however, do not hide their tears... or their disappointment.

“I was hoping for the opposite: Mélenchon at 24% and Le Pen at 20%”

At 8 p.m. sharp, when the results were announced on a giant screen, the esplanade in front of the Cirque d'Hiver (Paris 11th) was black with people.

Young people, especially, a few gray hairs, a handful of children and activists who shout when the result is displayed on the big screen.

It's disappointment here… a few tears #jevote #elections2022 @20Minutes pic.twitter.com/wHrdiv9ZwJ

— Oihana Gabriel (@OihanaGabriel) April 10, 2022

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Katia, 33, could not hold back her tears.

“This is the face of France”, she sobbed in front of the portrait of Marine Le Pen.

I did not expect that.

I felt such momentum, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was really good during the debates, he was able to provide answers on all subjects, societal, social, international... I was hoping for the opposite: Mélenchon at 24% and Le Pen at 20%.

I think there is a large percentage of abstainers who could have voted for LFI.

I have a bitter taste.

I was thinking of leaving France, but now I'm going to do it, I can't do it anymore..."

Same disgust on the side of Jeannette, 23 years old.

“I have a heartache, 28% for Macron and 23% for a racist …” “We were so close to the goal and there, we take five years in sight”, regrets his friend Martin.

"We must not give a single voice to the far right"

With each new speaker on the set of France 2, the activists alternate between whistles and applause.

For Baptiste, “it's terrible to end up with the same match as in 2017. The disappointment is all the greater since Mélenchon has never scored so high.

If we had had the votes of Roussel, of the Greens…” His comrade, 22-year-old Bryan, adds: “The three favorites in this election embody three very different visions of life.

“Does this mean that he will not be able to give his voice to Emmanuel Macron?

In his speech, Jean-Luc Mélenchon insisted, four times, "in case the message was not clear the last time": "We must not give a single voice to the far right".

Message received.

"We're going to go ... but it sucks," admits Baptiste.

“The dam against the far right, it was today that it had to be done by voting Mélenchon, annoys Martin, 21 years old.

We find ourselves in a situation where the president will pursue a policy that reinforces the populist vote.

For me, voting Macron means ensuring that in five years, we will have the same debate as today between the right and the far right.

“And the young man to do his calculations:” If we add the votes of Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, we reach 30%.

The far right will have gained eight points in just five years with Macron…”

Others make another calculation: the united left would also have totaled almost 30%, according to the first figures posted this evening.

Moreover, the rebellious do not hide their anger against this scattering of voices.

Moreover, as soon as Fabien Roussel or Yannick Jadot take the floor on the big screen, the invective fuses.

"You have something to do with it", yells a young man when Fabien Roussel warns: "The hour is serious".

For the moment at Ipsos the first block is... the left block with 30.7% of the votes against 30.6% on the far right.

— Rachel Garrat-Valcarcel (@Ra_GarVal) April 10, 2022

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For Christophe Prudhomme, an unsubdued emergency physician, the movement of recent weeks will not be in vain.

“There has been a dynamic in recent weeks.

We will have to be on the streets in the coming weeks to talk about the situation in hospitals.

They are falling apart.

“We are going to spend five years on the street,” confirms Jeannette.

The legislative battle

But for some, there remains before, another battle to fight, in the polls, that of the legislative ones.

Moreover, the rebellious tribune illustrated it: “The only task we have is that of the myth of Sisyphus, the stone falls into the ravine, we bring it up!

»

Claire shared this resilience a few hours before the results.

She left the Greens in January to participate in the Common Future campaign “on the observation that ecology is happening here.

There is a solid dynamic, an alliance between a credible program and the mobilization of the popular classes.

The lesson that can be drawn from this campaign is that the radical left has won over a declining social democracy.

»

For Loïse and Alexandre, a couple in their twenties, the momentum is likely to be less strong in a few weeks.

“For the legislative elections, there is traditionally more abstention, nuance Alexandre.

And young people, who support Jean-Luc Mélenchon, do not necessarily understand why it is important to vote in these elections, me first.

For Baptiste, however, hope does not stop tonight.

“This high score must launch a dynamic.

All the old parties are swept away tonight, in the legislative elections, the left's score can be high!

See you in June…”

Discover the results of the 2022 presidential election by city, department and region on

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», announces Jean-Luc Mélenchon

• Presidential election 2022

• Elections

• Jean-Luc Melenchon

• La France Insoumise (LFI)

• Emmanuel Macron