MELENCHON PROGRAM. On the basis of expert forums and popular consultation, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has developed a program promoting “a radical change of direction” in France. Retirement, 6th Republic, economy, ecology… Here is the LFI candidate’s program in a nutshell.
[Mis à jour le 10 avril 2022 à 11h51] This Sunday evening at 8 p.m., we will have the results of the candidates detailed city by city. Our teams are mobilizing to give you the results of the votes in your cities, even in small towns. You will therefore know the score that the LFI candidate obtained in the different French geographical areas. We will also reveal the abstention rate in France, which, according to estimates, is likely to be even higher than in the last election (as a reminder, it was 22.23% in the first round and 25.44 % in the second round of the 2017 presidential election), as well as the participation rate, which is likely to be down compared to 2017 (as a reminder, it was 77.77% in the first round and 74.56% in the second round of the 2017 presidential election).
This is Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s third consecutive presidential campaign. In the previous edition of the ballot, the tribune obtained 19.58% of the vote in the first round, narrowly failing to qualify in the second round. However, he had risen 8 points above his 2012 result, thus positioning himself very favorably in the context of the recomposition of the left. The PS and Benoît Hamon could not indeed say the same. This time, the 70-year-old La France insoumise candidate aims to finally reach the second round.
So what are the main proposals of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s “Common Future” program? The one who sums up his project as “building a society of mutual aid whose goal is the harmony of human beings among themselves and with nature” relies on asserted economic, cultural and ecological axes. In particular, he wants to change the Constitution and work to build a less economically liberal society. Justice, Covid, Europe, retirement or purchasing power… Here is a summary of the key measures he wants to put in place if he is elected.
L’Insoumis is in favor of the idea of imposing a blank year for the profits of the CAC 40. In terms of taxation, the MP wants to overhaul corporate tax to establish equality before the tax between SMEs and large groups, by introducing a progressive scale according to the profits made and their destination. He also wants to abolish the flat rate tax, restore the solidarity tax on wealth with a climate component, reduce VAT on basic necessities and tax capital income “like that of work”.
For Jean-Luc Mélenchon, “money exists to live better, debt is not a problem”. The candidate intends “to demand from the European Union that the European Central Bank buys public debts and transforms them into perpetual debts at zero interest”.
About the pension reform, the LFI candidate wishes to “guarantee a dignified retirement” and “restore the right to retirement at age 60”, by financing the payment of a full-rate pension (at least equivalent to the minimum wage) to any employee who has contributed for 40 years . On BMF Business on November 4, 2021, the candidate proposed three successive axes of solutions:
- “We only have to put the salary of women at the level of that of men and social security contributions will pay the difference”, he began by explaining.
- As an alternative, Jean-Luc Mélenchon suggests creating “a million more jobs”: “If there are a million more jobs, we finance retirement at age 60 in 40 annuities”, he said. He underlines.
- Third track: “A two-point surcharge on all salaries above 3,400 euros”.
The LFI candidate also explained why this measure of his program seemed so fundamental to him: “You know like me that working too long is detrimental to health and that harming health increases distress in personal life, increases illness, increases unemployment of seniors which today costs 3 billion. In other words, what you have not paid in retirement, you pay it in unemployment, the big deal.
To revitalize the culture, Jean-Luc Mélenchon plans to increase the budget “devoted to arts and culture to 1% of GDP per year”. This “will in particular lead to an increase of more than a third of the budget of the Ministry of Culture, and will also increase the budgets devoted to culture of the other ministries and local authorities as well as that of the public audiovisual sector”, underlines the candidate. Insubordinate France.
He wants to create a National Center for artists-authors and authors who “will organize professional elections to negotiate and set up social protection adapted to these professions, encouraging creation as well as the intermittency of the show. Also, Jean-Luc Mélenchon wishes ” professionalize and revalorize the place of artistic and cultural education throughout schooling”, in particular by developing the training of primary and secondary teachers in these questions. All schools would also be twinned with cultural establishments, to facilitate the meeting with artists.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposes the creation of an Ecological Planning Council. Attached to the Prime Minister, this structure would coordinate the drafting of a planning law”, while at the same time, his Ministry of Ecology would put in place “urgent measures”: the ban on glyphosate and neonicotinoids, the reopening of stations closed since 2017, or the thermal renovation of buildings.He wishes to enshrine in the Constitution the principle of the “green rule”, according to which we do not take more from nature than what it is able to give with the objective of reducing emissions by 65% in 2030 and publishing an annual report.
- The LFI candidate says he wants to put “social” at the heart of his campaign. “We have emergency security laws, emergency health laws: it is time to have a social emergency law“, he insisted in an interview granted to the JDD on September 11. This social emergency law includes “the freezing of prices on basic necessities, the increase of the minimum wage to 1,400 euros net and the postponement repayment of state-guaranteed loans.
- The candidate of the People’s Union says he wants to put an end to the policy of “numbers” within the police. He wants to restore the police of proximity, reinforce the training of the agents and abolish the BAC. It also intends to ban the use of dangerous law enforcement equipment.
- At the level of justice, he promises the recruitment of 13,000 magistrates, 20,000 clerks, and 10,000 administrative staff. He wants to make certain common procedures like divorce free.
- Regarding the rights of succession, he intends to cap inheritances at 12 million euros. “Beyond 12 million euros, I take everything”, asserted the candidate of the radical left.
- Jean-Luc Mélenchon intends to come back to the privatizations several activities, in particular that of the airports, of the Française des jeux but also of the motorways, according to the program
- On the health and vaccination pass, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has positioned himself as a fervent opponent. “We oppose the health pass because it is an attack on freedom in the world of work, in society, in human relations” he had launched at the end of August. During his interview with the JDD, the deputy returned to his rejection of the pass: “To make believe that its holders no longer present a danger to others, that’s false! But the health pass creates a society of generalized control. Generalized filing , absurd inopportune controls, etc. I said it in all tones and I voted against”.
- L’Insoumis defends the national sovereignty and, in terms of European policy, he wishes to “restore it, based on two essential clauses: social, ecological and democratic non-regression, and alignment with the best-priced standards”. He explains that he wants to “use the opt-out clause (disengagement, in French, editor’s note) when the treaties are contrary to the commitments of the program”.
If you wish to have more details and see all the measures proposed by the candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, it is online, on his campaign site. Find his program here.