J- L MELENCHON IN BESANCON Pt 2 :: 15 JUNE 2013 English subtitles ERRATUM : « Rodia » is mispelled throughout. The very first Left Front Fair took place in Besançon, in the South of France, where Mr Mélenchon had spent formative years of his youth, about which he spoke at the Fair. His 1hr 20 min speech has been divided into 5 parts. Here is the second part. The poor quality of the video which was used for subtitling forced a change in method after the first 21 minutes, which occurs roughly 5,21 mins into the second reel. You will be warned when the change is to begin and please note that the original soundtrack continues throughout. It was necessary, to meet YouTube's restrictions, to lop off introductory remarks and the final festivities, singing and general conviviality, stayed on the cutting room floor. Mr Mélenchon is presently in Latin America, and to clear his agenda from 15 June to the day of his departure, he did 2 and sometimes 3 appearances a day, throughout all of France, very much looking forward to a break. While his back is turned on French current events, there have been developments. If you've been following, you already know what Mr Mélenchon might offer in the way of remarks on the following : It's already safe to say 2013 was the summer of the Presidential crash-test dummies. Delphine Batho (supported by J-V Placé, EELV boss in the Senate) Arnaud Montebourg (offered FOC on a plateau by Maureen Dowd of the NYT), Sarko's Ghost (without a ghost of a chance, but ruining other people's holidays is neutral for Sarko, who's ruined the country) as well as Hollande's Interior Minister Manuel Valls (something he read on the NSA wire service ?), they just keep on coming and summer's only just begun. To stay in touch, you could subscribe to this channel. Jean-Luc Mélenchon was a cabinet minister in Lionel Jospin's government (2000-02) as well as a member of the French Senate (1986-2009). He was a long-time executive member of the Socialist Party (1977-2008). He left the PS in 2008, remarking that Socialism is a conviction, not a career. He created the Left Party which is part of a wider electoral coalition, The Left Front. This umbrella organisation is similar to Syriza in Greece or Die Linke in Germany. In May 2012, Jean-Luc Mélenchon ran for the French presidency. In the first round of the election, he secured 11.1% of the share of the votes nationally (over 4 million votes) in the teeth of total media blackout on his political programme, many malicious misrepresentations (generally chronicled on this channel) and the apparatus' determination to propell the "extreme right" (a euphemism for Fascism) into power for their particular advantage. Mr Mélenchon has been an MEP since 2009.

• published: 18 Jul 2013
• views: 16