Who is Jean-Luc Melenchon? How old is Jean-Luc Melenchon? Life and career of Jean-Luc Melenchon

When asked whether he was a candidate for the 2027 presidential election in France, Melenchon announced that he was a candidate. So, who is Jean-Luc Melenchon? How old is Jean-Luc Melenchon?

WHO IS JEAN-LUC MELENCHON?

Jean-Luc Melenchon was born in Tangier on 19 August 1951. His father, Georges, was a postmaster of Spanish descent, and his mother, Jeanine Bayona, was an elementary school teacher of Spanish and Sicilian descent. He grew up in Morocco until his family moved to France in 1962.

LIFE AND POLITICAL CAREER OF JEAN-LUC MELENCHON

Melenchon served in the Government of Lionel Jospin as Minister of Vocational Training from 2000 to 2002. Mélenchon was also the representative of the Essonne département of the French Senate until 2010.

He left the Socialist Party in November 2008, founding the Left Party with MP Marc Dolez. He joined the Left Front before being elected as leader of the left party in the 2009 European elections and as the main candidate of the coalition in the South-West region. He won these elections with 8.15 percent of the votes and was elected to the European Parliament.

Mélenchon and Martine Billard were co-chairs of the Left Party. Mélenchon was nominated as the presidential candidate of the French Communist Party and the Left Front, founded by the Left Party, in the 2012 French presidential election. He received approximately 11% of the votes in the first round and was eliminated by not making it to the second round.

In 2016, he took part in the founding of the La France insoumise, or Unyielding France movement in Turkish, and has been at its head since then. He became a candidate in the first round of the 2017 French presidential elections with the support of many left-wing groups and ranked 4th with 19.58% of the votes.

Mélenchon also came to the fore with the raid on the Unyielding France office in 2018. Mélenchon attacked the police and the prosecutor, saying that the pressure was unfair. While the Unyielding France office was being searched and the police prevented him from entering, Mélenchon said, "I am the Republic! I am the member of parliament. Get out of my way and open this door!" he said.

Mélenchon participated in the 2022 French presidential election as a presidential candidate. Although they increased their votes by more than 2% compared to the previous election, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen came in third with 21.95% of the votes and could not advance to the second round.

POLITICAL OPINION OF JEAN-LUC MELENCHON

Mélenchon, who said he took Jean Jaurès as an example, advocated the expansion of workers' rights and the strengthening of the social state system, while calling for the redistribution of wealth to correct existing socioeconomic inequalities. Other policies proposed by Mélenchon include an additional income tax on earnings above 360,000 euros a year, full public payment of health care costs, reducing the power of the president and giving it to parliament, and easing immigration laws.