Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon sought Sunday to reinvigorate his flagging campaign for April’s election with an “immersive and olfactory” rally, using videos, sounds and smells diffused through an exhibition hall.
The unusual event in the western city of Nantes came as the once-powerful French left wing is deeply fractured and struggling to make its voice heard in a campaign where far-right and conservative figures have grabbed most of the attention so far.
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Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon sought Sunday to reinvigorate his flagging campaign for April’s election with an “immersive and olfactory” rally, using videos, sounds and smells diffused through an exhibition hall.
He promised that Sunday’s rally would be a “positive” event at a time marked by political hostility. But Melenchon — a political firebrand with a notorious temper — is also divisive, and refuses to form a united front with other left-wing candidates against centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who's expected to seek re-election.
The 70-year-old Melenchon drew attention in the 2017 presidential race for holding a campaign rally via hologram, with his image projected simultaneously at venues around France. A similar show is planned for early April.
Other contenders include Socialist Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Greens party candidate Yannick Jadot, and former justice minister Christine Taubira.
French Socialist Party presidential candidate for the 2022 election Anne Hidalgo gestures as she speaks during a media conference in Paris, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Hidalgo unveiled to the media her program for the upcoming presidential election in April. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)
French Green Party presidential candidate for the 2022 election Yannick Jadot talks to the media after he visits the Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. By mid-January, the French government hopes to introduce a vaccine pass that will make vaccination mandatory for anyone wanting to go to restaurants or attend indoor events. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)
French Far-left presidential candidate for the 2022 election Jean-Luc Melenchon gestures as he speaks during a meeting in Nantes, western France, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon sought Sunday to reinvigorate his flagging campaign for April's election with an "immersive and olfactory" rally, using 360-degree video and smells diffused through an exhibition hall in the western city of Nantes. (AP PhotoJeremias Gonzalez)
France's President Emmanuel Macron leads a special cabinet meeting from the Fort de Bregancon presidential holidays residence, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, Monday, Dec. 21, 2021. Macron held a special virus meeting on Monday with some key ministers via video call from his holiday residence at Fort de Bregancon, on the French Riviera, after the country recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic. (Nicolas Tucat, Pool Photo via AP)
Eric Zemmour, far right candidate for the French presidential election 2022, gestures as he visits a vineyard and meets local supporters in Husseren-les-chateaux, eastern France, Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021. The first round of the 2022 French presidential election will be held on April 10, 2022 and the second round on April 24, 2022. (AP PhotoJean-Francois Badias)
According to his campaign platform, Melenchon wants the French government to guarantee jobs for everyone, pull out of NATO, disobey EU rules, legalize cannabis, renationalize some businesses, block energy price rises, hike taxes on multinationals and rich households and spend more on fighting racial and other discrimination.
French Far-left presidential candidate for the 2022 election Jean-Luc Melenchon speaks during a meeting in Nantes, western France, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon sought Sunday to reinvigorate his flagging campaign for April's election with an "immersive and olfactory" rally, using 360-degree video and smells diffused through an exhibition hall in the western city of Nantes. (AP PhotoJeremias Gonzalez)
He promised that Sunday’s rally would be a “positive” event at a time marked by political hostility. But Melenchon — a political firebrand with a notorious temper — is also divisive, and refuses to form a united front with other left-wing candidates against centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who's expected to seek re-election.
For Sunday’s event, the exhibition hall covered its walls and ceilings with screens to creative the “immersive” experience, which Melenchon's France Unbowed party says is aimed at “uniting the spirit and the senses" and convincing left-wing voters that all is not lost.
Melenchon has criticized the French government’s vaccine and virus rules as too restrictive, and his campaign didn't require any pass to get into the event but distributed masks at the entrance.
French Far-left presidential candidate for the 2022 election Jean-Luc Melenchon gestures as he speaks during a meeting in Nantes, western France, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon sought Sunday to reinvigorate his flagging campaign for April's election with an "immersive and olfactory" rally, using 360-degree video and smells diffused through an exhibition hall in the western city of Nantes. (AP PhotoJeremias Gonzalez)
The 70-year-old Melenchon drew attention in the 2017 presidential race for holding a campaign rally via hologram, with his image projected simultaneously at venues around France. A similar show is planned for early April.
He was the strongest-performing left-wing candidate in 2017, winning 19.6% of the vote, but came in only fourth. This time there are six left-wing candidates vying for the April 10 first-round vote, and polls suggest none has a chance to make it to the likely runoff of the top two vote-getters on April 24.
Many voters are undecided and the field of candidates is still shifting. According to pollsters, Macron's strongest challengers so far are far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who he beat in the 2017 runoff; conservative Republicans candidate Valerie Pecresse, who visited a migrant camp in Greece this weekend to push for stemming migration to Europe; and populist far-right pundit Eric Zemmour, who has been repeatedly convicted of hate speech.
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen meets with fishermen representatives during a visit of the port of Saint Malo, western France, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. (AP Photo Jeremias Gonzalez)
Other contenders include Socialist Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Greens party candidate Yannick Jadot, and former justice minister Christine Taubira.
Conservative party Les Republicains candidate for the French presidential election 2022, Valerie Pecresse, center, answers questions to journalists outside the ancient Herodes Atticus theater in Athens. Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. (AP PhotoPetros Giannakouris)
French Socialist Party presidential candidate for the 2022 election Anne Hidalgo gestures as she speaks during a media conference in Paris, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Hidalgo unveiled to the media her program for the upcoming presidential election in April. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)
French Green Party presidential candidate for the 2022 election Yannick Jadot talks to the media after he visits the Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. By mid-January, the French government hopes to introduce a vaccine pass that will make vaccination mandatory for anyone wanting to go to restaurants or attend indoor events. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)
French Far-left presidential candidate for the 2022 election Jean-Luc Melenchon gestures as he speaks during a meeting in Nantes, western France, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon sought Sunday to reinvigorate his flagging campaign for April's election with an "immersive and olfactory" rally, using 360-degree video and smells diffused through an exhibition hall in the western city of Nantes. (AP PhotoJeremias Gonzalez)
France's President Emmanuel Macron leads a special cabinet meeting from the Fort de Bregancon presidential holidays residence, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, Monday, Dec. 21, 2021. Macron held a special virus meeting on Monday with some key ministers via video call from his holiday residence at Fort de Bregancon, on the French Riviera, after the country recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic. (Nicolas Tucat, Pool Photo via AP)
Eric Zemmour, far right candidate for the French presidential election 2022, gestures as he visits a vineyard and meets local supporters in Husseren-les-chateaux, eastern France, Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021. The first round of the 2022 French presidential election will be held on April 10, 2022 and the second round on April 24, 2022. (AP PhotoJean-Francois Badias)