Jean-Luc Melenchon, a fiery leftist whose anti-capitalist agenda has shaken up France's presidential race, has gained four points in two weeks in the polls, a result that would see him seize the third spot in the first-round vote, a poll showed on Sunday.
The same poll, for LH2/Yahoo, suggested his more mainstream Socialist challenger Francois Hollande would still win the first-round vote on April 22, however, with 28.5 percent of the vote. That was two points lower than a similar poll on March 18, but still ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy whose campaign was boosted in the aftermath of a killing spree by an Islamist gunman. The poll gave Sarkozy 27.5 percent, which was unchanged.
But it was the result for Melenchon, who co-heads a group of far-left parties, that stood out, suggesting his radical leftwing rhetoric and attempts to push Hollande's agenda further to the left are paying off. He would win 15 percent of the first-round vote, the poll suggested, pushing past far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who was on 13.5 percent.
At least one previous survey in the past two weeks has also put Melenchon in third place, underscoring the momentum enjoyed by the one-time Trotskyist who surprised many by surpassing the symbolic 10 percent mark in the polls for the first round in mid-March. Critics have accused him of drawing supporters away from Hollande and of diluting the frontrunner's chances of beating Sarkozy. For the May 6 second round vote, the survey gave Hollande 54 percent versus 46 percent for Sarkozy. Hollande lost one point since March 18, while Sarkozy gained one.
The first round of France's two-part election tends to be highly polarised, with candidates rallying the outer limits of their support bases. The second round is usually fought on the centre ground, however.
Melenchon has stolen some of Hollande's thunder, while his no-holds-barred style has forced both the Socialist frontrunner and even Sarkozy to make more overtures to workers, including promises to control executive pay and severance packages.
In his most dramatic move, Hollande announced a plan to tax those earning over 1 million euros at a 75 percent annual rate. Conservative voters worry that a strong first-round performance by Melenchon could mean more legislative seats in June for the far-Left, which is allied with the Communists.
On Sunday, the head of France's principal business lobby MEDEF, Laurence Parisot, told iTele she considered Melenchon divisive and his rhetoric objectionable.
"I find Melenchon is much more the inheritor of The Terror, rather than of the finest values of the Revolution," said Parisot, referring to the bloody period following the French Revolution when tens of thousands were beheaded at the guillotine. Earlier this month, Melenchon held a mass rally at the symbolic venue of the Bastille, the former prison destroyed by the mob during the Revolution. He attracted tens of thousands of supporters who listened to his call for a "citizens' insurrection." The LH2/Yahoo telephone survey of 973 people was conducted on March 30-31.