Former Minister Aims to Unite French Left for Presidential Run

(Bloomberg) -- Christiane Taubira, who served as justice minister in France’s last Socialist government, said she aims to unite the French left behind a run for president next year. 

“I envisage running,” Taubira said in a video published on social media Friday. “I won’t be just another candidate,” she added, suggesting she will only run if left-wing parties line up behind her candidacy.

President Emmanuel Macron is the front-runner for April’s election and polls have been suggesting he’s most likely to face nationalist leader Marine Le Pen or far-right pundit Eric Zemmour in the second round. But that calculation shifted with the center-right Republicans’ decision to nominate Valerie Pecresse, a former budget minister who now heads the Paris region.

Several recent survey have placed Pecresse second behind Macron, with one suggesting she could defeat him in the runoff.

The French left has a handful of candidates, from the socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo to the green leader Yannick Jadot and the far-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon. None individually polls above 10% but the left still represents about 25% of the vote in France, so a candidate would have a shot at reaching the presidential runoff if they can create a unified ticket. 

Hidalgo has called for a primary to settle on the candidate, but Jadot and Melenchon have rejected that approach.

Taubira, 69, is known for her push to make France acknowledge that slavery was a crime against humanity. She ran for president for the left-wing radical party in 2002, gathering around 2% of the votes. As justice minister under Francois Hollande, she defended gay marriage. 

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