Friday (March 4) at 18:00 was the deadline for presidential hopefuls to have collected 500 signatures of elected officials in order to become official candidates for the election in April.
By earlier that day, 11 people had managed to pass the 500 threshold. One, Philippe Poutou (Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste), was closing in, with 439 signatures as of the most recent count from Thursday (March 3). He said he was confident of getting the 61 names before the deadline, and he was right.
Below, we look at the 12 people whose names will be on the voting slip when those in France go to the ballots on April 10.
We outline a few of their key policies, and provide a link to their social media accounts so that you can see more of what they say.
Proposes a host of measures to increase purchasing power, including (but not limited to), increasing in net salaries, tax exemption for overtime without a limit, accumulation of employment and retirement benefits without limit
Invest €100billion in defence spending by 2030
Base Europe’s defence on two pillars, Nato and a European defence system
Net zero carbon emissions by 2050
Improve access to medical professionals and facilities in rural areas
Emmanuel Macron has spent less time than other candidates to outline clear policies, but we have drawn a list of his main priorities from a letter he wrote to announce his candidacy.
“The electoral campaign is cataclysmically poor. The French no longer trust anything or anyone. Let's overhaul our institutions and encourage citizen involvement.”
Referendum on increasing presidential term times to seven years or keeping it at five
Increase the net minimum wage to €1,400 per month (currently around €1,269)
Create 20,000 new hospital beds and recruit 100,000 medical staff
Create a reserve army service
Develop the principle of rent-to-own to facilitate access to home ownership
Fabien Roussel - Parti communiste de France (far-left, communist)
“Create the France of happy days”
Increase the minimum wage, net salaries and pensions immediately
Re-create a ministry of women’s rights and a law that imposes a legal framework to combat sexual violence
Reach gender wage parity within six months in the public sector and one year in the private sector
Create 300,000 new jobs in retirement homes
Re-nationalise the SNCF, EDF, Engie, La Poste and Orange
France should convene a European conference on debt and "refuse to make the people pay" the debts linked to Covid
Says her “obsession” is to find the means to ensure that the 5.6 million unemployed people find a job that pays well
Create a pension scheme that allows those who started working before the age of 20 to leave with 40 years of service at the age of 60 (current retirement age in France is 62)
To solve the crisis in Ukraine, France must take the lead in diplomacy by organising an international conference under the supervision of the UN
Lower the VAT on fuel, electricity, gas and oil
Says she is hostile to the wearing of the veil everywhere and that she considers it as an Islamist uniform, that it is an act of submission of women. She wants to eradicate the Islamist ideology in France
Get rid of the Covid vaccine and health pass systems for good
Increase salaries by 8%
France should act as un-aligned in the war on Ukraine, and Ukraine should become a neutral state (as per the wishes of Russian President Vladimir Putin)
Do not increase minimum wage but reduce social costs
Refuse to legalise cannabis
Restrict the right to asylum and deport rejected asylum seekers
She says she is absolutely against economic sanctions against Russia, because "it will be the population that will pay for them". She also opposes the sending of arms to Ukraine.
She believes that the responsibilities of the Ukraine war are shared between Russia and Western powers, and Nato. She considers that Nato has surrounded Russia and is a main provocation in Russia’s decision to invade the country
Reduce weekly working hours
Increase all salaries by at least €300
Increase the net monthly minimum wage to €2,000 (currently around €1,269 per month)
