By Sila Sazak; Giota Mitta; Dawid Pekalski; Mirjam Lifbroer and Sonia Devji
The French elections this April could significantly influence the future of the European Union. On the 23rd of April Marine Le Pen is expected to win the first round of the elections for the far-right, anti-immigration National Front. Fillon, Macron, Melechon and Hamon would compete for the second place in the first round, aiming to challenge Le Pen during the second round on the 7th of May. So who are the other candidates and what do they stand for?
Benoît Hamon – The Socialist Party
Last week, the French Socialist Party (SP) officially presented Benoît Hamon, former member of the European Parliament and former education Minister, as the Presidential Candidate for the left-wing party. The victory of Hamon, with 58% of the votes against 42% for former President Manuel Valles, came for many as unexpected. The 49-year-old Hamon is known as a hard-left candidate and is seen as an outsider within the SP, often referred to as the French Jeremy Corbyn or Bernie Sanders.
By choosing Hamon, the French Socialist have made a clear shift to the left. Hamon’s flagship is the basic income, but his election promises also include the environment and the anti-stigmatisation of Muslims. Furthermore, he wants to legalise cannabis and use “the annual 568 million euros used for repression for the purpose of prevention and information on the risks associated with this consumption”, as said on October 10th.
The vote for Hamon indicates the rejection of the Hollande-period, where many SP voters thought policies were not strong enough. According to Hamon, his unexpected nomination proved that the French left “is turning to the future and wants to win”. Whether Hamon has a chance to become President of France will become clear after the 23rd of April and the 7th of May, when the French will cast their ballots.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon – La France insoumise (‘France Undefeated’)
He was one of the candidates for the presidential elections who declared the earliest in July 2015. He then launched his own movement in 2016, “La France insoumise”. The founder of the Left Party, of which he has withdrawn, has also been a member of the European Parliament since 2009. During the previous presidential election, in 2012, he allied himself with the Communist Party and obtained 11.1% of the vote.
According to some analysts, the Left- wing still has a chance to fight to get Elyse Palace , if the leaders of the Left make agreement for unity. However, even though the salvation of the Left is linked to its ability to gather around a single candidate for the presidential election, Benoît Hamon and Jean-Luc Mélenchon have never appeared so far to reach an agreement.
On Thursday 23rd February, Jean-Luc Mélenchon appeared as guest on France 2 and announced that he was ready to meet Benoît Hamon in the coming days. However, the possibility of an agreement with the PS remains very uncertain.
While Yannick Jadot has just announced the withdrawal of his candidateship and his rallying to Benoît Hamon , Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared not wanting to “bet” nor be a “adventurer”.
Asked about a possible agreement with Benoît Hamon – the discussions have been going on for weeks – Jean-Luc Mélenchon once again refused to take responsibility for the difficulties encountered during negotiations with Hamon. “I’m open to discussion. It’s not me who closed the door, it’s not true,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron – En Marche!
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron is currently the front runner to go head-to-head with Le Pen in the second round. He recently called on US scientists and academics in conflict with Donald Trump’s administration to move to France, signalling his strong opposition to the populist right-wing President who has electrified the Front nationale .
The former economy minister for Hollande’s Socialist administration, one of the front runners in the upcoming presidential election, urged US-based scientists working on climate change, renewable energy and health issues who were wary of the new political situation to seek refuge across the Atlantic. In an earlier speech in Lyon he said: “I want all those who today embody innovation and excellence in the United States to hear what we say: from now on, from next May, you will have a new homeland – France”.
Emmanuel Macron may be young at 39 to be President of France, but thinks he has fresh policies to offer France. Macron’s policies are, in his view, neither partisan nor dogmatic. His critics accuse him of being all style and no substance. Sonia Delesalle-Stolper claimed that his candidacy can be described as “an empty box filled with nothing but vague ideas and ideals”.
Macon comes from left, however his economic programme is a combination of some of the Thatcherite reforms that François Fillon is promising. However, Macron’s policies are less brutal than François Hollande’s would have been, but a little more daring. So this is a clever strategy when approaching the left primary, but stealing ideas from both sides of the political spectrum may not work in the final round. He would like to unite people in France not only over climate change and environmental issues, but a whole raft of social and economic policies. Some of his policies are aiming to implement new tax law helping small and medium businesses which have been struggling in recent years. His program stresses the importance of ‘flexible’ working hours with no more than 35 hours per week and slightly more relaxed approach to unemployment rights. He believes that people should not stay at work just because they feel that there is no other option. He is also more welcoming to immigrants and therefore hopes to rally the anti-Le Pen vote.
Francois Fillon – The Republicans
Francois Fillon, 62, born a catholic in the French rural west, has taken French politics by storm as he climbed to success in the conservative primaries last November. Upholding his traditional values, Fillon stands as the centre right candidate.
Amidst recent accusations of scandal Fillon asserts; “I have nothing to hide”, in the run up to the French presidential election. After admitting the employment of his wife for a well-paid government role was “a mistake”, Fillon’s Thatcherite inspired free market campaign continues. Fillon’s supporters consist of those on the central right of the political spectrum. Opinion polls have illustrated a two-third majority in favour of the candidate’s resignation amidst fears of losing the election for the Les Republicains party, and dividing the party indefinitely. However, Fillon continues his campaign on Twitter highlighting that “Rural areas are the first forgotten of our Republic. I want to come to the aid of our farmers” – which received a welcoming applause at a public address . Opposing candidate in the Les Republicains party; Alain Juppe, claimed he is ready to step in should Fillon decide to step down. To which Fillon tweeted in reply a firm “No means no”. “I am innocent and I will continue” fights Fillon.
His Eurosceptic outlook includes policies which contains his own Brexit strategy, and calls for a friendly deal with the UK. Having recently written a book titled: Overcoming Islamic Totalitarianism, Fillon’s conservative values on Islam welcomes a restoration of traditional French values by limiting immigration and creating strict regulations of Islamic practice. His political stance on the controversial cultural and religious issue differs from Le Pen’s National Front, as for example, he does not want to ban the Burkini.
Yannick Jadot – Green Party
On Thursday 22nd February the candidate of the Green Party for the French presidential elections Yannick Jadot announced his withdrawal from the race. Jadot announced that his party will support the Socialist candidate Benoît Hamon in the April-May elections.
Benoit Hamon, who was aiming to unify the left for the presidential elections, told France Inter radio two weeks ago that he was speaking to Green Party leader Yannick Jadot.
“What we need to discuss is the conditions under which we could come together and who in the end could — between Yannick Jadot, Jean-Luc Melenchon and myself — be best suited to embody the left in the second round of the French presidential race with a program that could be shared,” Hamon said.
Yannick Jadot is a French environmentalist, former member of the NGO Greenpeace and Member of the European Parliament elected in the 2009 European election for the West France constituency. He was campaigning for the French Presidency for the Green Party.
Jadot had claimed his party would make life better for French people. One of the most important points of his program, not surprisingly, was to put the spotlight on the environment. Jadot had stated that France could replace carbon and nuclear energy with renewable energy resources by 2050, while by 2030 it could achieve a zero final amount of waste.
