What is Behind The Rise of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France?

FEATURING JEAN BRICMONT – French voters will go to the polls on April 23rd for the first round of voting in their Presidential elections. If no single candidate wins a clear majority, there will be a run-off election between the top two vote winners on May 7th. International on-lookers are watching the elections will great interest because of the rise in popularity of the leftist politician, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Mélenchon has galvanized progressives in France with his campaign platform aimed at worker rights and heavy investment by the state. But he faces a tough fight in a crowded field of candidates, among them the ultra-right wing Marine Le Pen.

Jean Bricmont, a mathematical and statistical physicist at the University of Louvain, and author of Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War. He is based in Brussels but joins us now from Paris.