AssetID: 56077106
Headline: UNCAPTIONED: Mélenchon Doubles Down On Student Protests Despite Violent Clashes
Caption: Mélenchon Doubles Down On Student Protests Despite Violent Clashes. French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon urged supporters to join nationwide demonstrations backing students blockading high schools. The France Unbowed leader compared the movement to the May 1968 protests and described it as the country's most powerful student mobilisation since then. Students and teachers began blockading schools last month to demand more funding and better working conditions, with protests spreading nationwide. Education Minister Edouard Geffray said blockades had affected 400 to 500 high schools, while vandalism or arson occurred at 24 protests last week. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's office said the government and intelligence agencies believed France Unbowed and its ideological allies had helped foment the protests. Mélenchon rejected accusations that he had encouraged violence as "absurd" and instead accused police of using excessive force against demonstrators. A Cluster17 poll conducted before the unrest found 47% of voters under 35 planned to support Mélenchon in next year's presidential election. However, Mélenchon remains deeply divisive, with 73% of voters saying there was little or no chance they would ever vote for him. Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
Keywords: Current Affairs & Politics,Jean-Luc Mélenchon,France Unbowed,student protests,Sébastien Lecornu,Edouard Geffray,France,high school blockades,French election,presidential election,student demonstration
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