French Greens pick Jadot as presidential candidate amid fragmented Left

The Eiffel Tower is lit with green lights as part of the events in the French capital to mark the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France, November 29, 2015. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

The Eiffel Tower is lit with green lights as part of the events in the French capital to mark the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France, November 29, 2015. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Published Sep 28, 2021

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GREEN voters on Tuesday chose former Greenpeace activist Yannick Jadot to be their candidate for France's April 2022 presidential election.

Jadot won the vote by a narrow margin, winning 51.03% of the votes, against 48.97% for the self-styled radical Sandrine Rousseau.

The 54-year-old EU lawmaker wants France to devote 20 billion euros ($23.43 billion) per year to the transition to a more environmentally friendly economy, progressively end intensive animal farming, and establish a new wealth tax.

Born in a village in northern France, Jadot worked for NGOs in Burkina Faso and Bangladesh for a few years, before getting increasingly involved in politics back home, while heading several environment-focused NGOs, including the French branch of Greenpeace.

The French Greens lack the fire-power of their German counterparts and no opinion poll sees Jadot as a serious challenger to President Emmanuel Macron.

But the question is whether the self-styled consensus builder, who wants to attract voters beyond the remits of the small Greens party, could emerge as a leader of the fragmented French Left – for that election and beyond – and weigh in on the political debate.

Reuters

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