Two of the most left-leaning candidates in France’s presidential election are in talks to join forces, in what would be the latest twist in a turbulent race for the Élysée Palace.
“We are having discussions and we will continue to have discussions,” Socialist Benoît Hamon said of Friday of his potential team-up with the Left party’s Jean-Luc Melenchon, Reuters reports. Hamon’s party is currently in power in France, but his candidacy has been hampered by the historic unpopularity of current President François Hollande.
Polls suggest that a potential pair-up between Hamon and hard-left Melenchon might help them get through to the May 7 run-off, likely to face the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front Party. According to an Opinionway-Orpi poll published Friday, Le Pen is expected to get 26% of the votes in the first round of the election in April, while Hamon and Melenchon would respectively get 16% and 13%.
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