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Europe · Politics · France Source-checked
Melenchon launches his 2027 presidential programme with a pledge to lower the retirement age to 60
The hard-left leader presented his programme at a rally in Le Bourget on Saturday. Polls show him as the strongest candidate on the left.
Key facts
- Melenchon presented his programme at a rally in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on Saturday.
- He proposes a retirement age of 60 and a minimum wage of 1,700 euros a month.
- France 24 says polls make him the left's strongest contender against Marine Le Pen.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the hard-left France Unbowed party, formally launched his 2027 presidential programme on Saturday at a rally in Le Bourget, north of Paris. The programme had been published online a day earlier.
France 24, with photographs from AFP, reports that he pledged to raise the minimum wage, cap prices for essential foods and restore the retirement age to 60. Al Jazeera gives more detail on the platform. It says he wants the minimum wage at 1,700 euros a month, about 1,900 US dollars, and that he would take France out of NATO and bring parts of the economy back into state hands.
Al Jazeera also reports that he wants the European Central Bank to stop France repaying the debt it holds, which would in effect turn that debt into a permanent interest-free loan. He believes this would give the government more room to spend. On Europe, he would keep France in the EU but refuse rules that conflict with the country’s social, environmental or economic plans, which could set up a confrontation with Brussels.
Both outlets say polls currently point to him as the strongest contender on the left and a potential rival to the far-right National Rally leader, Marine Le Pen, in next year’s election. Al Jazeera notes that he is a divisive figure. Right-wing opponents call him radical, former allies have called him a despot, and some of the students who have joined nationwide protests see him as a hero.
The launch comes while France is seeing protests over living costs and wages.
Why it matters
His programme shows what a left-wing challenger would offer French voters and how sharply it would break with current policy on pensions, wages, debt and NATO.
What remains uncertain
The reports describe the main points of the programme but do not cost it. Polling numbers were not given in the articles we read. The election is next year and candidates may change.
Sources and references
- Al Jazeera: 'Radical' or 'hero'?: France debates leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon (2026-11-07)
- France 24: Watch live: 'We must change everything,' French far-left presidential candidate Melenchon says (2026-11-07)
Each link goes to the specific article or document we used. Two articles carrying the same wire report count as one source.
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