France is only one week away from the presidential election. An official high terror alert has been issued to all candidates and all special forces have been mobilized, as reported by Sunday's newspaper Le Journal Du Dimanche quoting the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. Running the most risk, according to the newspaper, are presidential candidates themselves and their campaign offices.
As reported today by RIA Novosti, the president of French right party Union of Democrats and Independents Jean-Christophe Lagarde demanded from the Minister of Interior to investigate a claim propagated by the media that some of the voters are listed twice on the electoral roll. The number of these people is estimated at half a million. Whatever the case, many French citizens have already notified journalists of receiving two electoral cards. So what's going on in one of the biggest European countries at the peak of the presidential race? Reporting from France is Alexey Petrov.
Street musicians are almost a symbol of French serenity, but lately they've been drowned out by political calls and slogans. Here you can see young French communists campaigning on the streets of Lille, Lenin on their T-shirts and Mélenchon on their leaflets. The new left don't deny: all 5 years under the socialist Hollande were nothing but disappointment. Many promises were made in 2012, including financial ones, and nobody delivered.
And now we see all of them supporting Macron, who's an ultra-liberal and systemic candidate, regardless of his claims. Eras and ideas seem to have blended here. This is the Paris protests of 1968 right next to new editions of Marx and Trotsky as well as Brexit headlines. With an hour left before the start, there's a huge line outside.
The hall is full which is clearly annoying to Mélenchon's opponents. At the start of the campaign, few people could imagine that Mélenchon would pose a threat to the leaders of the race. Five years ago he came in fourth, with 11% of the votes, but now, according to polls, his numbers are significantly higher.
Mélenchon's understanding of a left turn is an additional, sixth week of vacation, a maximum of 35 hours of work per week, with plans to cut hours even further, and 60 years as the age of retirement. We support Mélenchon because he's a real politician. He thinks about people and understands everyone. We agree with him. The right are only destroying everything. We are really sick of them. The middle-of-the-room podium is his signature style. Instead of standing in one spot, Mélenchon is walking around, trying to address everyone at once and invariably criticizing capitalism.
Never before had such a rich country as France had so many poor people. We are talking 9 million people, including those with a job. And we are constantly being told that France lives beyond its means. "No, you live beyond your means," is my reply to our elite. It's crucial for Mélenchon to reach out to younger people. He has a YouTube channel, and this rally could be watched online on Facebook (запрещена в РФ). But the leader of the Unsubmissive France, as his movement is called, has already won the Internet. This music video shows a hot blonde girl with a crush on the left candidate. Who knows, maybe it also contributed to Mélenchon's ratings shooting up.
The entire week he's been neck to neck with François Fillon. Some sources even claim that he's ahead of the Sarkozy-era Prime Minister. Fillon himself this week has been trying to prove his worth to Languedoc residents. Buses full of François Fillon supporters. It seems people came here from all over the south of France. Here, on the rear window, there's even a photo of the presidential candidate. At this point, every day and every meeting is potentially critical for the outcome.
Another scandal around Fillon: allegedly, his wife Penelope was given an assistant job in the National Assembly of France in 1982, and not in 1986. The media are claiming that Fillon's not clean. Don't you agree? You know, some dirt can be dug up on everyone. It's time to stop talking about Fillon. Let's have a look at others. Fillon's program, lost in an avalanche of scandals, is all about the reindustrialization of the country.
The Republican candidate says that smaller taxes and social responsibility demands would allow businesses to create new jobs. Do you support his idea to lay off 500,000 government employees? Not to lay off – just not to extend contracts which are about to expire anyway. France has way too many public officials. Their number has increased by one million in 5 years. We just don't need so many of them. Fillon walks into the conference hall and immediately lashes out at the results of Hollande's 5-year term. All areas of our public life are in a dire state.
The growing unemployment rate is bringing our country to the verge of a social upheaval. The middle class has all reasons to worry about the future of their children. A state of emergency is what describes the situation in suburbs and rural areas where things fall into neglect. Our schools are also in a critical state. They are but a shadow of what our education system used to be. And finally, a state of emergency is triggered by the war declared by Islamists on the free society, first and foremost on France. Fillon's still failing in catching up with his opponents.
The leaders haven't changed. Marine Le Pen, in her address to National Front supporters, emphasized that putting borders in place and reinforcing the police is not enough to prevent terror attacks. The key is to stop making mistakes in foreign policy. You're asking, what do we do with Syria? We should all sit down and find the way out of the current situation. If we want these negotiations to be productive, we need to invite all sides of this crisis, that is apart from Islamists. The Syrian territory under their control has turned into a breeding ground for terrorists that come to Europe. Currently this is the best candidate we have. She has a real, robust program to save France. Making contact with Le Pen is far from being easy.
Dozens of journalists from leading French and international channels are trying to ask Marine Le Pen questions when she's leaving the conference. Nobody wants to step back. Madame Le Pen, will France join Russia in fighting terrorism? France will join any nation who's fighting terrorism and Islamist fundamentalism. These security measures are easy to understand. Only two days later there was an attack on the National Front office. The offenders broke the glass door and set the HQ on fire. The investigation is in the hands of the police.
National Front members say they are used to having a bulls-eye on their backs, with accusations coming from every direction. Marine Le Pen seems to disturb Emmanuel Macron more than others. He seizes every chance to go after his opponent who's running neck to neck with him. It's a party of hatred, a party that instead of solving problems, points out foreigners as our enemies. This party cannot rise up to the challenges of our present and our future. It's filled with nostalgia for the past that never existed. It's suggesting we slam the door and exit the European Union, when the EU can actually protect us, and also leave the eurozone, when the euro has a potential to improve our lives.
Macron tries to keep up appearances. He paid a visit to his hometown. Here we see him and his wife Brigitte in the south-west of France. Only he has enough reason to be uneasy. Despite Macron's leading at polls, a major part of his constituents is not 100% sure of their decision and can easily change it at the last moment. Which means that the home stretch can bring us more unexpected turns of events.
