Five days before the first round, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is holding the last major meeting of his presidential campaign on Tuesday, multiplying in eleven other cities thanks to holograms to try to interfere in the increasingly tight duel announced between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
Third in the polls, the rebellious candidate ends at the Grand Palais in Lille his marathon of weekly meetings started in January, which each time brought together thousands of people.
This time, he intends to reach even more voters by deploying, as in 2017, his “holograms” in eleven cities. Thus, while he speaks in flesh and blood in the northern capital, his image will be projected in three dimensions on stages in Le Havre, Vannes, Poitiers, Pau, Narbonne, Albertville, Montluçon, Besançon, Metz, Trappes and Nice .
“We have targeted a territorial network, there will be Jean-Luc Mélenchon or one of his holograms less than 250 kilometers from each French person”, welcomes MP Bastien Lachaud, organizer of the meetings.
“It’s a technological feat that requires weeks of preparation,” he adds, promising even better quality holograms than in 2017.
For the Insoumis, the objective is to drive the point home and establish itself as the only campaign on the left capable of qualifying its candidate in the second round, through its methodical organization, its program and the talents of its candidate who seeks to embody the “useful vote” to win a place in the next round.
This meeting comes as Mr. Mélenchon consolidates his third place in the polls, the Ifop-Fiducial institute placing him at 15.5% on Monday after having gained 1.5 points in one week.
But it is still outdistanced by the RN Marine Le Pen which remains on its upward momentum of recent weeks. It climbs to 22% and narrows the gap with Emmanuel Macron who gives ground to 27.5%.
– “Heiress of a clan” –
In this survey, the balance of power between the two candidates for the second round on April 24 has not changed in a week, with Macron at 53% and Le Pen at 47%. But according to another poll, from Harris Interactive, the head of state and the head of the National Rally are respectively credited with 51.5% and 48.5% of the voting intentions.
“Within the margin of error to beat Emmanuel Macron. The momentum in favor of Marine Le Pen has never been so powerful. Hope is rising. Do not disperse your voices”, reacted the interim president of RN Jordan Bardella .
But “the last points that separate you from the 50% are the most difficult to win,” said political scientist Jean-Yves Camus, a specialist in the far right.
Faced with the danger, the outgoing president attacked, in an interview Monday with the regional dailies of the Ebra group, his rival whom he referred to “the heiress of a clan”.
After his giant meeting at La Défense on Saturday, the outgoing president is back on the road with a planned trip to Finistère, on the lands of Richard Ferrand, president of the National Assembly and early supporter.
He goes there to speak on the themes of Europe and the relationship between the State and the regions, at the end of a five-year term marked by tensions between the executive and the communities, in particular on the management the health crisis or tax issues.
Presidential speaking time rules
© AFP – Sylvie HUSSON
Mr. Macron, on the other hand, will not participate in the political program “Elysée 2022” on France 2 for “scheduling problems”. He was expected with the PS Anne Hidalgo, the ecologist Yannick Jadot, the LR Valérie Pécresse, who returns from Guadeloupe, the far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour and the NPA Philippe Poutou.
Emmanuel Macron is the only candidate not to participate in one of these two issues of the weekly show, which take place at a time when strict equality of speaking time must be respected by the channels.
The ecologist Yannick Jadot has planned, for his part, to join the demonstration of the accompanying persons of students with disabilities (AESH) with a press briefing planned in front of the State Secretariat which is in charge of it.
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