Rivals move in as France’s leftist firebrand runs into trouble

PARIS— What happens when a firebrand burns out?

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the outspoken leader of the French far left, may soon discover the answer to that question. The 72-year-old has racked up controversies while trying to remain in the spotlight ahead of June’s European election and France’s 2027 presidential vote, but signs of exasperation are emerging in his camp, especially as Mélenchon campaigns on Israel’s war against Gaza rather than on European issues.

Mélenchon’s strong showing in the 2022 presidential election and construction of the left-wing Nupes coalition had previously put him in position to lead the French left.

But his spiraling radicalism appears to have exhausted many of his partners. The Nupes coalition fell apart over M´élenchon’s refusal to describe Hamas as a “terrorist” outfit after its Oct. 7 attack against Israel, instead referring to the group’s actions as “war crimes.” Recently he compared a university head who canceled one of his conferences to Holocaust mastermind Adolf Eichmann.

Would-be successors smell blood in the water, seeing Mélenchon’s position as increasingly tenuous and sensing an opening among center-left voters alienated by President Emmanuel Macron’s shift to the right.

Former allies inside his own camp are now looking to seize the moment to build a post-Mélenchon left. Among them is François Ruffin, a former journalist and filmmaker who sits with Mélenchon’s France Unbowed party (LFI) in parliament but is not part of Mélenchon’s inner circle. Ruffin has already said he was “getting prepared” for a 2027 presidential run.

François Ruffin has already said he was “getting prepared” for a 2027 presidential run. | François Lo Presti/AFP via Getty Images

“I’ll never rejoice in the weakness or the splintering of the left, but we need to build the future, and I think that will be without [Mélenchon],” Socialist lawmaker Arthur Delaporte said.

Communist leader Fabien Roussel described Mélenchon as “discredited,” while Socialist Party head Olivier Faure blamed the left’s divisions on the 72-year-old politician.

With Macron unable to run again in the next presidential election and his Renaissance Party trailing the far right in the polls ahead of June’s European election, center-left politicians are also eyeing a potential comeback after years of failed campaigns. 

Mélenchon’s singular campaign 

France Unbowed’s focus on Israel’s war in Gaza ahead of the European election has seen Mélenchon host conferences that have been marred by clashes and controversies. 

When one was canceled at the University of Lille last week due to security concerns, Mélenchon compared the school’s president to Eichmann, a Nazi who said at his 1961 trial for organizing the Holocaust that he had only been following orders.

“Eichmann said (he) merely obeyed the law as it stood in (his) country. So they say they’re obeying the law, and they implement immoral measures that are justified by nothing and no one,” Mélenchon said.

For Delaporte, Mélenchon’s “aggressive strategy” ahead of the June election has been motivated by his desire to remain relevant.

“They don’t have much momentum, so controversies are also a way of existing,” he said.

Polling in France currently shows the LFI list, led by outgoing MEP Manon Aubry, receiving around 8 percent of the projected vote and trailing the list backed by the Socialist Party and led by Raphaël Glucksmann.

Jean-Yves Dormagen, a pollster for Cluster17, said the political landscape has changed in a way less favorable to Mélenchon.

“There’s a new space for a less radical, less anti-system left,” he said. “Mélenchon was able to rise because the social democrats still voted for Macron … [But] Macron is losing this left-wing space, that’s why Glucksmann is now at 12 to 14 percent in the polls.”

Post-Mélenchon planning

Mélenchon still says he favors building a united left alliance ahead of the 2027 presidential election, despite the repeated infighting. But prominent politicians on the left have been drawing up plans for a post-Mélenchon left — with some hoping that a poor showing for the radical left in the June 9 election could help accelerate the process.

Ruffin, the 2027 presidential hopeful in Mélenchon’s party, could benefit.

A leaked Cluster17 poll commissioned by Ruffin’s team showed him reaching the run-off and potentially winning the presidency against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen if he runs with the backing of all left-wing forces. 

“Francois Ruffin unites, he is a popular left-wing figure. He appeals to the radical left … and the more moderate left that wants more stability, reform,” Dormagen said.  

But Mélenchon has overcome controversy before. In 2019, weakened by footage of a furious Mélenchon clashing with police who were raiding his movement’s offices as part of an investigation into his campaign finances, LFI scored barely above 6 percent in the EU election. Three years later he managed to capture most of the French left-wing vote during the presidential election and nearly made the run-off, which allowed him to spearhead a united left alliance in the subsequent legislative elections.

Antoine Léaument, a member of parliament for LFI and a close Mélenchon ally, said he believes attacks against the radical left could work in the movement’s favor. 

Over the past week two key party figures were summoned by police investigating “glorifying terrorism” allegations in relation to statements on Israel’s war in Gaza. According to the LFI parliamentary group’s statement, the Oct. 7 Hamas attack came “against the backdrop of the intensification of Israel’s occupation policy;” LFI called for an immediate ceasefire.

 Politicians across party lines on the left have expressed concern that these investigations could be an example of lawfare.

“Our voters can use this election as revenge,” he argued. “The more we are unfairly targeted, the more our supporters across the country will want to prove that these attacks are inefficient.”

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