La gauche peut-elle se rassembler autour de Mélenchon ?

While Jean-Luc Mélenchon seems well-positioned for the 2027 presidential campaign, the rest of the left appears to be struggling to find its way and its candidate. There's a proliferation of candidacies, but still no primary: will there be one? Several prominent figures on the left, such as Green Party MP Sandrine Rousseau, Génération.s MP Benjamin Lucas, and Philippe Poutou, are calling for dialogue with the leader of La France Insoumise. Is this the only way for the left to win the presidential election? We discuss this with political commentators Elizabeth Martichoux and Françoise Degois, as well as Frédéric Dabi, Director General of Opinion at IFOP. The pollster reports a sense of unease on the left, which is reportedly "fearing a fourth 21st of April." Frédéric Dabi explains: “It’s a very simple fact: the left hasn’t been to the second round of the presidential election since 2012; that’s practically prehistoric times for a great many young French people.” And despite the existence of figures who embody the left, such as François Hollande, Raphaël Glucksmann, and Marine Tondelier, “there’s still a growing sense of unease.” For Françoise Degois, the question of the primary is crystallizing tensions on the left. She clarifies: “Glucksmann doesn’t want a primary; he wants an internal nomination, but he’s not irresistible (…). The candidate needs to have the legitimacy to vote. When you have the left-wing electorate telling you, ‘We want a primary,’ you’d have to be crazy to continue resisting a primary.” Elizabeth Martichoux, however, emphasizes that the context has changed profoundly. And according to her, the Socialist Party has "weakened nationally," while Jean-Luc Mélenchon has established "his hegemony over the left" since 2022. 🔴 To follow all the political and parliamentary news, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/publicse... 👉 Our website: http://www.publicsenat.fr ▶️ Discover all our replays: https://www.publicsenat.fr/replay 📬 Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/NewslettersPublicSenat 🚀 Follow us on social media: Facebook:   / publicsenat   X:   / publicsenat   Instagram:   / publicsenat   LinkedIn:   / 2996809   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/publicsenat.fr Threads: https://www.threads.net/@publicsenat TikTok:   / publicsenat