Jean-Luc Mélenchon Politician

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃lyk melɑ̃ˈʃɔ̃]; born (1951-08-19)19 August 1951) is a French politician who served in the government of France as Minister of Vocational Education from 2000 to 2002. He was also a member of the French Senate, representing the département of Essonne. He came in fourth in the 2012 presidential election, receiving 11% of the votes.Mélenchon left the Socialist Party in November 2008 to found the Left Party with French deputy Marc Dolez. As leader of the Left Party, he joined the Left Front before the 2009 European elections and was selected as the coalition's main candidate in the South-West region. At those elections he won 8.15% of the votes cast and gained a seat in the European Parliament.Mélenchon is co-president of the Left Party along with Martine Billard. During the protest movement against the pension reform of 2010 his public stature grew thanks to his many public and television appearances.

Personal facts

Birth date	August 19, 1951
Birth place	Morocco , Tangier
Education	University of Franche-Comté

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Office holder

party	Left Party (France) Socialist Party (France) Internationalist Communist Organisation
president	Jacques Chirac
prime minister	Lionel Jospin
successor	Luc Ferry