He is the strong man of this presidential election. But how long will it stay that way? Jean-Luc Mélenchon gave his first interview, ten days after the first round of the presidential election. Arriving third, the leader of France Insoumise admitted that he did not come out unscathed from the ballot where he did not go far from qualifying. But according to him, he had also come to project himself into another fight. And it won’t be an easy task.
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“I ask the French to elect me Prime Minister” by voting for a “majority of rebels” and of “members of the People’s Union” in the June legislative elections, said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, third man in the first round of the presidential election, on Tuesday.
The leader of the Insoumis, who gathered 21.95% of the vote on April 10, said he would run for this post, whether the President of the Republic elected on Sunday is Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen. “I will be the Prime Minister, not by the favor of Mr. Macron or Mrs. Le Pen, but by the French people who elected me“, he said on BFMTV, during his first speech since the evening of the first round.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon therefore aims to impose cohabitation on the future winner of the presidential election.
LIVE – “Elect me Prime Minister”: Jean-Luc Mélenchon launches the battle for the legislative elections ➡️ “He never said he was retiring”, for Eric Coquerel. “The legislative elections are the fight that continues , it’s the third round, we’re in the sequel.” pic.twitter.com/KJYSHfqSYQ
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Believing that the legislative elections of 12 and 19 June will constitute a “third round“, the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône, who is not yet sure to represent himself, therefore asks the French, hold out his hand to the left:I call on all those who want to join the Popular Union to join us in this great battle. So there is a third round, there is not only a second round“. To achieve this, he therefore appeals to different forces, without exception: communists, NPA, ecologists, Jean Lassalle and even the socialists, with whom he nevertheless maintains very conflicting relations. “It means everyone. And if there are socialists who say: ‘listen, we learned the lesson this time. We agree on the Popular Union strategy, we agree on the fact that Comrade Mélenchon will be the Prime Minister if we win…’ Well, everything is fine!“, he detailed.
Except that the call is likely to make “pschitt”. Thus, as early as Wednesday evening, this very prominent socialist parliamentarian expressed doubts about the strategy: “Mélenchon will not have a hologram of him in every constituency. The legislative elections are a local incarnation“. This other elected ecologist, herself a candidate, wonders: “Does that mean we have to defend the program of the popular union?“, implying that there is no question of it. The conditions set by the Insoumis are likely to cool the negotiations already started.