Relief among the Insoumis. Jean-Luc Mélenchon has crossed the 500 sponsorship mark needed to officially run for president in April, while Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen are getting closer to the goal with just over 400 each, according to the list published Thursday by the Constitutional Council.
With 540 signatures, Jean-Luc Mélenchon joins the seven other candidates who have already reached the minimum necessary to be formally on the starting line in the first round on April 10, subject to final validation by the Constitutional Council, which has yet to verify. that sponsorships come from at least 30 different departments.
Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen still remain below the fateful bar
LR candidate Valérie Pécresse is leading with 2,271 initials, followed by President Emmanuel Macron, who has not yet formalized his candidacy, with 1,544 sponsorships, then socialist Anne Hidalgo (1,226), ecologist Yannick Jadot (615) , the communist Fabien Roussel (593), the deputy Jean Lassalle (579) and the candidate of Lutte Ouvrière (LO) Nathalie Arthaud (562).
Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen, both credited with more than 10% of voting intentions in the polls, remain below the fateful bar, but they are getting closer: the far-right polemicist has jumped 65 signatures in two days to reach 415. And the RN candidate, who suspended her campaign to devote herself to the task of obtaining them, won 21 to have 414 at one week from the deadline set by the Constitutional Council on Friday March 4 at 6 p.m.
The sovereignist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan is also getting closer to the goal with 457 signatures on the counter, but others are still far away like François Asselineau (247), the NPA Philippe Poutou (243), the trade unionist Annasse Kazib (130), the ex – Keeper of the Seals Christiane Taubira (128) and the animalist Hélène Thouy (97).
Jean Castex mobilizes elected officials
Prime Minister Jean Castex on Tuesday called on elected officials to “bring their sponsorship” to presidential candidates, stressing that such an approach “is not automatically synonymous with political support”.
Nearly 42,000 elected officials, including 34,000 mayors, can grant their sponsorship. The Constitutional Council posts on its website twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the list updated in real time.