Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came third in the first round of the French presidential election behind Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, according to estimates by several polling institutes, called on Sunday April 10 not to vote for the candidate of the National Rally in the second round, on April 24.

"We know who we will never vote for," the People's Union candidate said in a speech.

"We must not give a single voice to Mrs. Le Pen", he repeated several times to his supporters.

We know who we will never vote for.

And for the rest, as I told you 5 years ago: the French are capable of knowing what is good for democracy.

We must not give a single voice to Madame Le Pen.

#Melenchon2022 #1erTour https://t.co/Ze7TLz8cLJ

— Jean-Luc Melenchon (@JLMelenchon) April 10, 2022

"I believe that the message, for this part, has been heard", he concluded on this subject.

"I know your anger. Do not let it come to make you make mistakes that would definitely be irreparable", continued Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came third in this first round with around 21% of the vote, according to the estimates.

"Let's not hide the violence of disappointment"

"As I told you five years ago, do you remember that there was any damage after our declaration? Who would you take the French for? They are able to know what to do. They are able to decide what is good for the country,” he said, referring to his similar voting instruction in 2017.

"This posed, let's not hide the violence of disappointment," he said of his own score, better than in 2017. "She is first thinking of everything that would have been undertaken and who won't."

"But at the same time, how to hide (...), also, the pride of the work accomplished? The popular pole exists! If we were not there, what would be left? What would we have? Nothing! And we have built this force," he said.

"So of course, the youngest will tell me: well, we haven't got there yet! It's not far...", launched Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

"I don't look good, nor do I want to be comforted (...). The fight continues."

With AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_EN