Philippe Poutou

Philippe Poutou (French pronunciation: ​[filip putu]; born 14 March 1967)[1] is a French far-left politician, a trade unionist and worker in a car factory in Bordeaux by occupation. He was the New Anticapitalist Party's candidate for the presidential elections of 2012 and 2017, in which he respectively received 1,15 % and 1,09 % of the vote.

Philippe Poutou
Philippe Poutou campaigning in March 2012 in Toulouse
Born14 March 1967 (1967-03-14) (age 53)
Villemomble, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationTrade unionist and car factory worker
Known forFrench presidential candidate (2012, 2017)
Political partyNew Anticapitalist Party (2011–present)

Trade union activity

He is secretary of the General Confederation of Labour at the Ford Motor Company in the région of Aquitaine, and is a worker in that industry. In 2007, he played a leading role in union negotiations with the company over the potential axing of 2000 jobs, and was a union spokesman to the media.[2][3]

Previous political activity

He was a candidate for the Revolutionary Communist League in the 2007 legislative election, where it obtained 2.7% of the vote (and no seats in the National Assembly), then led its successor party, the New Anticapitalist Party, during the 2010 regional elections in his home region of Aquitaine. He obtained 2.52% of the vote.[2][3]

2012 presidential election

In June 2011, he was chosen by the New Anticapitalist Party as its candidate for the 2012 presidential election. Media noted that he was virtually unknown to the public, and that he might find it difficult to succeed previous candidate Olivier Besancenot, a well recognised figure popular beyond the party itself. He would, in addition, have to contend with divisions within the party over whether to engage more with the Left Front, with an aim to unify the political forces on the left of the centre-left Socialist Party.[2][3]

For much of the campaign, he remained little known to the general public; he was described as lacking Besancenot's popularity, charisma and ease with words. Freely admitting that he did not particularly want to be a candidate, and that he did not aim to be elected (particularly as one of his policies was to abolish the function of President, in favour of a fully parliamentary system), he saw his profile and popularity increase somewhat in the late stages of the campaign, when all candidates obtained equal airtime in the media. In particular, his unconventional behaviour drew attention during the television programme Des paroles et des actes (fr), along with his unusual campaign clips - such as one based on the film The Artist, or another parodying the gameshow Questions pour un champion and playing on the fact that Poutou remained little-known to the public.

Like Trotskyist candidate Nathalie Arthaud, his message was that improvements in workers' rights would come through workers' struggles and demands rather than through the ballot box.[4][5][6][7][8][9] Obtaining 1.15% of the vote, finishing eighth out of ten, Poutou called upon voters to "vote against Sarkozy" in the second round. The press partly explained his low result by the fact that Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of the Left Front, had attracted the bulk of voters on the "left of the left".[10][11] Poutou explained that, while he hoped Hollande would win rather than Sarkozy, the New Anticapitalist Party would have to help build an "opposition on the left" to the new government.[12][13]

References
  1. "Programme de Philippe Poutou candidat à l'élection présidentielle 2017". Le Monde. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  2. "Le NPA se choisit un candidat pour 2012 mais ne s'épargne pas les doutes", Le Monde, June 26, 2011
  3. "2012 : le NPA mise sur l'ouvrier Philippe Poutou", Le Parisien, June 25, 2011
  4. "Retour sur la campagne : la sélection du service politique du "Monde"", Le Monde, 21 April 2012
  5. "Et Philippe Poutou creva soudain l'écran...", Le Monde, 12 April 2012
  6. "Philippe Poutou est... "The Anticapitaliste"", La Dépêche, 20 April 2012
  7. "Clip officiel: The Anticapitalist", official campaign website, 18 April 2012
  8. "Clip officiel : Questions pour une élection", official campaign website, 11 April 2012
  9. "Poutou s'est fait un nom", Le Figaro, 23 April 2012
  10. " Petit score pour Poutou et Arthaud, phagocytés par Mélenchon", Agence France Presse, 23 April 2012
  11. "Au QG de Philippe Poutou : "Il s'est vraiment révélé !"", Le Nouvel Observateur, 22 April 2012
  12. "Poutou perd en voix mais gagne en popularité", Le Journal du Dimanche, 23 April 2012
  13. " Poutou vote à Bordeaux, évoque une "opposition de gauche" à construire", Le Point, 22 April 2012
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