Jean-Luc Mélenchon
common front. Jean-Luc Mélenchon aspires to achieve a majority in Parliament that forces Macron to appoint him prime minister
Jean-Luc Mélenchon has gained prominence to become the leader of the French left. At the head of La France Insumisa, he is on track to achieve what he failed to achieve five years ago, when his attempt to unite the opposition against President Emmanuel Macron failed. Progressives are moving towards a common front around Mélenchon ahead of the legislative elections that will take place next June. His aspirations are stronger than ever after the results of the past presidential elections, in which he obtained almost 21.95% of the vote in the first round and was about 400,000 votes short of overcoming the far-right Marine Le Pen. . «A new page of combat opens. The fight continues », he affirmed on election night.
His political vein was awakened at the age of 14, when a girl gave him the book ‘Histoire de la Révolution française’ by Adolphe Tiers, through which he became interested in the legacy of Gallic republicanism. Since then he could not get away from political life. After working in a watch shop and at a gas station in his youth, he studied Philosophy. He also practiced journalism. He militated as a student leader during the protests of May 1968 and at the university he joined the Trotskyist left. Already in 1976 he joined the Socialist Party, but it was not until 1983 that he entered fully into public activity as a councilor for the city of Massy, south of Paris. Until now, one of the most important positions he has held has been that of Minister for Vocational Training in the Government of Lionel Jospin between 2000 and 2002.
Spanish roots
During these years his deep Spanish roots have accompanied him -he shows it by speaking fluent Spanish in press conferences and interviews-. Mélenchon was born in Tangier in 1951, when Morocco was still a French protectorate. His paternal grandparents were from Murcia and his maternal grandparents were Basque. With the independence of the Maghreb colonies, he left his homeland at the age of 11 to spend his adolescence between Normandy and Jura.
Mélenchon has a daughter, Maryline (48), from his brief marriage to Bernadette Abriel, and a 15-year-old granddaughter. His eldest daughter has inherited his political vocation as he has worked in the municipal council of Lyon and Jura. The support of his family drives him in his aspiration to achieve a left-wing majority in Parliament that forces Macron to appoint him prime minister.
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