With just three weeks to go before France’s presidential election, hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon rallied tens of thousands of supporters on Sunday onto the streets of Paris, framing himself as the antidote to Emmanuel Macron by promising to raise the minimum wage, freeze food and fuel prices, and lower the retirement age.
Currently polling in third or fourth place in the presidential vote, Mélenchon – the head of La France Insoumise (France unbowed, or LFI) party and l'Union Populaire (Popular Union) – sought to unite left-leaning supporters at Sunday's rally after the falting performance of French Socialists in recent years.
