National Suicide: Hard-Left Candidate Emerges As Serious Presidential Contender In France

Huge tax increases. Out-of-control spending. Unrestricted immigration of “refugees” including jihad terrorists and sharia supremacists. If Jean-Luc Mélenchon wins, it will be clear to the world that France is intent upon national suicide.

“Hard-Left Candidate Emerges As Serious Presidential Contender In France,” by Jacob Bojesson, Daily Caller, April 17, 2017:

The French presidential race could turn into a battle between two candidates on different ends of the political spectrum as communist-backed Jean-Luc Mélenchon emerges as a serious contender.

Four candidates remain in the running to become France’s next president with less than a week to go before the first round of voting. Populist Marine Le Pen long seemed like the anti-establishment alternative until investors and the European Union got another headache in the possibility of a Mélenchon presidency.

Mélenchon, who is just 3.5 percentage points from the lead, is the head of newly-formed “La France Insoumise” movement (Unsubmissive France) and a veteran of left-wing politics. He wants France to withdraw from the NATO alliance and, like Le Pen, renegotiate its relationship with the EU.

Other proposals include a 100 percent tax on all income over 400,000 euros ($425,000) and increase public spending by 173 billion euros ($184 billion) over five years. He wants to improve relations with Russia to “avoid war” and move from a presidential to a parliamentary system where citizens hold more power.

Mélenchon is currently tied with conservative candidate Francois Fillon in third place with 19.5 percent’s support, according to an Ifop poll released Monday. Emmanuel Macron hold a slight lead with 23 percent, ahead of Le Pen in second place with 22.5 percent’s support. The top two candidates will go up against each other in a run-off election May 7.

One-in-three eligible voters are undecided, which makes the last week crucial for all candidates. Mélenchon’s surge could shake up the race even he fails to finish in the top two. Some 42 percent of his backers say they won’t vote in the second round if he’s eliminated from the race, which could boost Le Pen’s chances….