Mélenchon seeks to replace France's constitution with new draft
The 75-year-old leftist leader is challenging Marine Le Pen for the presidency while proposing a complete rewrite of the nation's governing laws.
By Pedro Barnes ·
Jean-Luc Mélenchon is proposing a new constitution for France that would replace the current system established by Charles de Gaulle in 1958. The 75-year-old leftist leader spoke to 20,000 supporters in Le Bourget, a suburb north of Paris, on Saturday. He declared that everything must change in the republic.
Mélenchon is in his fourth presidential bid and faces a potential second-round duel against far-right leader Marine Le Pen. His previous three attempts ended before the final vote. In 2022, he fell short by 421,308 votes. He now aims to reach the final round on May 2.
His political platform contains more than 1,000 proposals. The plan calls for lowering the voting age to 16 and returning the retirement age to 60. It also proposes higher taxes for wealthy citizens and a temporary halt to artificial intelligence development.
A central part of the plan involves a special assembly of citizens to draft a new constitution. Current legislators would be excluded from this group. Voters would then approve the new rules. Between elections, citizens could gather signatures to force votes that cancel laws or remove a president from office.
Critics warn that his candidacy could destabilize the country. They accuse him of supporting Moscow and showing tolerance for antisemitism. Mélenchon rejects these claims. He described himself as the only one who can fix the political system. A right-wing mayor recently called him the Donald Trump of the left.
The campaign relies heavily on young voters in Seine-Saint-Denis. This department is the poorest in metropolitan France. Mélenchon views these areas as the future of the nation. He embraced a student protest movement that began in September over school conditions. Police have made thousands of arrests during these demonstrations.
Supporters at the rally sang the French national anthem. They wore shirts with the number 27 on the back. Mélenchon referenced a 2017 comment by President Emmanuel Macron that called some people nothing. He urged the crowd to be everything instead.
The traditional center-right and center-left parties combined for only 6.5 percent of the vote in the 2022 first round. Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe is also running. He seeks to challenge Le Pen in a potential runoff. The outcome will determine if two movements that have never governed France will fight for the presidency.
