Crowds filled the streets of Paris as part of a nationwide general strike and new protests on November 5, just five months before France’s presidential election. Far-left presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s silver hair and round-framed glasses were instantly recognisable in the crowd. He has been pictured at several youth-driven demonstrations in recent months, sporting a wide smile, his fist raised.
Mélenchon’s affinity for the young protesters appears to be mutual. The founder of the France Unbowed (La France Insoumise or LFI) party decidedly won the support of 18- to 34-year-olds in the 2022 presidential election. And recent polls suggest that in 2027– with the youth predicted to be on his side–Mélenchon could make it to theelection’s second and final round, to face off against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is leading the polls.
Watch moreFrance's fed-up youth: Can presidential candidates connect with student movement? Much of Mélenchon’s left-wing platform proves popular among young French voters, notably its promises to fight climate change, redistribute wealth and stage a “citizen’s revolution” to encourage public participation in government. They are frustrated, they have been frustrated for a long time,” said political scientist Thibault Muzergues.
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Cover image: France: High schools blocked again as students reject government responses as 'meaningless' © France 24 Livia Jampy, a 25-year-old co-chair of the LFI youth group and a city council member in Montpellier, said the party takes the French youth's political concerns seriously. The LFI’s youth group, Jeunes Insoumis.es, tries to reach voters online and in the streets. LFI also hosts an annual "summer university" for people under the age of 26 that this year included a meeting with Mélenchon himself.
But Mélenchon remains controversial among France’s broader electorate. He has taken flack for encouraging the ongoing student protest movement, which at times has been marked by violence. His political adversaries have blamed his confrontational rhetoric for the civil unrest, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying the youth are being "exploited" by political forces.
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