Mélenchon urges supporters to join student protests amid violence accusations

PARIS — Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon urged his supporters to join nationwide protests on Tuesday in support of students blockading high schools, despite accusations that he instigated violence.

“Our country is witnessing the most powerful movement of high school and college students it has seen since May 1968,” Mélenchon said, referring to the massive demonstrations almost 60 years ago that fundamentally reshaped French society.

In a nearly 20-minute video published Monday, Mélenchon shrugged off accusations from the government and right-wing politicians that he is inciting unrest by calling for more people to come out in support of students. Vandalism or arson incidents occurred at 24 protests last week, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said Sunday.

The blockades have taken place at 400 to 500 high schools, Geffray added, about 10% of the total in France.

The protests began last month when students and teachers blockaded schools, calling for more funding and better working conditions. They have since become a nationwide movement and a political issue as the campaign for next year’s presidential election heats up.

“In the field of education, as in all other public services, policies of penny-pinching and budget cuts have led to the near-collapse of the system,” Mélenchon said.

Mélenchon’s opponents — including France’s historically unpopular government — accuse him of using fiery rhetoric to fuel a febrile political environment that incites violence.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office said the government and intelligence agencies “shared the assessment” that France Unbowed and its ideological allies helped foment the student protests.

The 75-year-old has denied encouraging violence — he called the allegation “absurd” in his video and blames the police for brutally dispersing protests — but he’s not backing down from a rhetorical fight. In a blog post over the weekend, Mélenchon made it clear he sees the moment as an opportunity to seize the political narrative, as he did with French debt last month, and push his already strong advantage with the youth vote.

“The government immediately singled out France Unbowed as the devil incarnate. That was a mistake on their part,” he wrote. “It earned us a significant surge in popularity in high schools, where we were already well-received.”

A Cluster17 poll shared exclusively with POLITICO before the unrest began last month showed that 47% of respondents younger than 35 planned to vote for Mélenchon. POLITICO’s Poll of Polls aggregator currently shows him with a narrow lead over centrist candidates in the race to finish second and advance to the presidential runoff, where he would likely face off against far-right front-runner Marine Le Pen.

Tuesday’s demonstrations could be an important litmus test of how far Mélenchon can turn an autumn of discontent to his advantage.

“[Several organizations] have rallied behind the high schoolers and their union. This is absolutely unprecedented. And it’s undoubtedly an indication of a massive protest ahead, one that paves the way for others to follow,” said Paul Vannier, an MP and high-ranking Mélenchon deputy.

Yet Mélenchon remains a divisive figure. Seventy-three percent of voters said there was little to no chance they would ever vote for him, according to the Cluster17 poll shared exclusively with POLITICO, compared with 62% for Le Pen.

His goal for now is to consolidate his base and make the runoff, and younger voters are a key part of that effort, but images of high schools ablaze and clashes between police and protesters threaten to hurt his standing with the wider electorate. A poll last week found that most respondents agreed the demonstrations were justified but disagreed with France Unbowed’s strategy.