“We made it! We have put a lot of energy and willpower into it, meeting 13,000 mayors since July: it is the feeling of a victory. The far-left candidate Philippe Poutou claims to “have the 500 sponsorships” necessary to participate in the presidential election, the same day as the deadline for filing sponsorships with the Constitutional Council at 6 p.m. The municipal councilor of Bordeaux had validated 439 of them at the Constitutional Council on Thursday, according to a last count published.
“But in addition to these sponsorships, we have 70 to 80 documents that we have identified, plus the words of mayors, the total of which means that we exceed 500, assures Philippe Poutou. We even have the security of twenty more sponsorships. “It is not yet official, but we have snatched this place,” he added, specifying that he had received sponsorship from elected ecologists or even communists.
A campaign budget “of around 800,000 euros”
The printed version of the anti-capitalist candidate’s program “will be released in the coming days” to “make disruptive solutions heard”. His campaign budget will reach this year, as in 2017, “about 800,000 euros”, “with three meetings a week”, indicated the NPA candidate, who claims “1,200 members”.
The final list of candidates will be announced Monday by Laurent Fabius at 12 p.m. in a video. If Philippe Poutou validates his 500 signatures, there would be 12 candidates on the starting line, as in 2017.