Jean-Luc Melenchon: A Supporter of Palestine and Immigrants, Who Moved France from Right to Left

The Left Alliance won the largest number of seats in France’s second round of legislative elections, but without achieving an absolute majority in the National Assembly (Parliament).

‘Hard-left leader’, ‘the French Chavez’, and ‘the new French danger’, with these terms in French newspapers, such as Le Zico, Le Figaro, and Liberation, described the leader of the New Left Alliance, Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Melenchon, one of the most divisive figures in French politics due to his wild proposals on taxes and spending, and his controversial foreign policy positions, especially regarding Israel's war on Gaza, as he participated in a number of rallies, demanding an end to the genocide.

In exchange for the popularity he enjoys among his supporters, critics accuse Melenchon of anti-Semitism, which he constantly denies.

The 72-year-old politician has had a long career in politics, having become a member of the Parliament at the age of 35, as well as an EU lawmaker in 2009.

Different Orientations

The New Popular Front Alliance in France achieved a resounding and unexpected victory with the largest number of seats in the second round of legislative elections, which caused the far-right to fall to third place.

After announcing the initial results indicating the progress of the Left Alliance in France elections, Jean-Luc Melenchon said that President Emmanuel Macron should invite the French left parties to form the government, pointing out that Macron was defeated and must admit it.

Melenchon ruled out the formation of a broad alliance of parties with different orientations.

The New Popular Front, of the Socialist Party, the French Communist Party, France Unbowed, and the European Environment Party was urgently formed the day after the dissolution of the National Assembly by President Macron.

These parties have previously criticized each other. They also have some major differences in their ideology and approach, but they decided to form a bloc to keep the far right out of government.

Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly after his camp's failure in the European elections last June 9.

In the first round of the French legislative elections, the New Popular Front ranked second with 27.99% of the votes, according to the official results revealed by the Ministry of the Interior.

The right-wing National Rally party led by Le Pen took first place, while the presidential camp received only 20% of the votes expressed.

Therefore, it was decided that some candidates from the center and the left would withdraw in favor of the candidate most likely to win during the second round, which accelerated the rise of the Popular Front at the expense of the presidential camp and the far-right.

Extreme Leftist

Jean-Luc Melenchon was born on August 19, 1951, in the Moroccan city of Tangier, but he left in 1962 and obtained a BA in Philosophy in 1972.

He married Bernadette Abriel in 1972 and they had a daughter, Maryline, in 1974, before the couple separated in 1994, and Melenchon has remained unmarried since then.

After working as a teacher for a while, Melenchon entered the world of politics in September 1976, joining the Socialist Party, and in an attempt to unite the French Communist and Socialist Parties, he created a federal newspaper.

In 1976, he was elected as a member of the Socialist Party in the municipality of Massy (south of Paris), and later as a senator for the Essonne department.

In 1986, Melenchon entered the French Senate as a representative of Essonne, and remained in his position until 2000.

He served as Minister of Vocational Education between 2000 and 2002 in the government of Lionel Jospin, a position that constituted his only government experience.

In 2004, he returned to the Senate and served until 2010, but the Socialist Party's tendency toward centrism disappointed him.

In 2009, he was elected to the European Parliament, and was re-elected in 2014.

After the Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, assumed the presidency of France in 2012, Melenchon was one of the most vocal deputies critical of his performance.

He joined the group of rebel deputies, and ended up leaving the Socialist Party and founding the Left Party.

In 2016, he founded the France Unbowed, which he still leads to this day.

Melenchon ran for president three times. In the 2012 elections, he came in fourth place and received 11% of the votes in the first round.

In the 2017 elections, he obtained about 19.6% of the votes, while in the 2022 elections, he came behind Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, and obtained about 21.95% of the votes.

His Electoral Program

French newspaper Le Figaro said that Melenchon's electoral program mainly focuses on launching the Sixth Republic and expanding social welfare programs.

In addition to increasing the minimum wage by 16%, reducing weekly working hours and the retirement age, stopping employee layoffs, and raising the government spending ceiling by about €173 billion over five years.

Melenchon also wants the government to bear all health costs for citizens, as well as to reduce presidential powers in favor of legislative power.

Regarding the issue of immigrants, Melenchon adopts a supportive discourse for them, and he calls for their integration into French society and the regularization of their status, especially those who do not have permanent residency.

With the escalation of anti-immigrant rhetoric by prominent figures around the world, such as Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and Geert Wilders, Melenchon called for the “phenomenon of terrorism” not to be reduced to immigrants.

He also defended the right of Muslims to exist in Europe freely, as long as they were not involved in harming anyone, calling for a distinction between Islam and terrorism.

Melenchon has strongly opposed the trend toward economic globalization, condemning it as disproportionately benefiting the financial industry and high-income earners at the expense of the poor.

Melenchon also calls for exit from NATO and from the European Union treaties if some conditions are not met, as he says: “Europe we either change it or we leave it,” in addition to his demand to abandon nuclear energy.

During his previous election campaigns, Melenchon called for France to turn east toward warmer relations with Russia, as well as an alliance with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Supporter of Palestine

After his leftist alliance topped the legislative elections in France, Melenchon said that we must recognize the State of Palestine because it is among the means available to us for pressure.

Melenchon is subjected to a lot of criticism because of his position on the Israeli war on Gaza, while some accuse him of anti-Semitism.

Last December, Melenchon said that “what Israel is doing in Gaza is not legitimate self-defense but rather ethnic genocide.”

France Unbowed leader called for a ceasefire in Gaza, and demanded that France work on that with all its political and diplomatic might.

Earlier, Melenchon called for condemning the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians, calling on President Macron to stop unconditional support for the Israeli government, which is committing abhorrent war crimes.

With the outbreak of the Operation al-Aqsa Flood, Melenchon described Hamas as a resistance group.

Melenchon also believes that Israel is a colonial state, and that settling the conflict is not possible until the Palestinian refugees return to their homeland.

After Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party lost the 2019 UK general election, Melenchon confirmed that the UK election results were influenced by the Israeli Likud Party.