French presidential candidate Glucksmann says 'battle begins' to unite fragmented left

French presidential candidate Raphaël Glucksmann declared Monday that the "battle begins" as he launched a bid to unite a fragmented left ahead of next year's election, hours after he was flour-bombed by a protester.

The 46-year-old EU lawmaker was elected the centre-left candidate on Sunday for the upcoming April-May presidential election, securing a commanding first-round victory that surprised even many within his own camp.

The leader of the small centre-left Place Publique party now faces the challenge of uniting the divided mainstream left.

The French left has been shut out of the presidential second round ever since François Hollande won in 2012.

"At last, the battle begins," Glucksmann told broadcaster Radio France on Monday.

"Finally, we're banishing the spirit of defeat from our hearts. I've had enough of this left that doesn't believe in victory."

Glucksmann said his "entire life has prepared me for this historic moment".

He is currently polling in the low teens in voter surveys, well behind the frontrunner, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

He also trails centre-right contender Edouard Philippe, who served as prime minister under President Emmanuel Macron, and hard-left veteran Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose France Unbowed (LFI) party boycotted the primary. Glucksmann has ruled out any alliance with LFI.

Le Pen has benefitted from one of the most fractured political landscapes in modern French history, with a multitude of candidates vying for support and traditional political forces weaker than ever.

On Sunday night, Glucksmann was pelted with flour as he left a Paris bar where he had been celebrating his victory.

'Violence of campaign'

The lawmaker said he was "ready to face the violence and brutality of this campaign" and appeared to blame Mélenchon's party for the flour-bombing episode.

"At every event we organise, at every demonstration we attend, there are LFI activists who harass, insult, throw flour at, or threaten people," he said.

"Jean-Luc Mélenchon must formally condemn the fact that his supporters are carrying out these attacks," he added.

Macron's Socialist predecessor François Hollande – who is believed to be eyeing another presidential run – did not take part in the primary.

Glucksmann said however, that Hollande "warmly congratulated" him.

"I want him to be part of our team," he added. "Given the seriousness of the situation, I cannot imagine that someone who has been president of France would devote themselves to anything other than the national interest."

Besides being a staunch European who abhors the far right, Glucksmann is a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion. 

He is the son of philosopher André Glucksmann. His grandfather, Ruben Glucksmann, was born in what is now western Ukraine and served as a Soviet spy under Stalin.

Glucksmann won 66 percent of the 120,787 votes cast in the primary.

His main rival, Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, was a distant second, with 14 percent of the vote.

"It was tactical voting that prevailed," an elected official said.

"Socialists remain traumatised by Anne Hidalgo's 1.7 percent result," the official said, referring to the result for the former Paris mayor's bid in the first round of the 2022 presidential election.

While Glucksmann's strong victory in the primary was notable, it was not necessarily a "game changer" in what is likely to be a long and bruising presidential campaign, said Frédéric Dabi, director of the Ifop pollster.

Centrist presidential hopefuls Philippe and Gabriel Attal now face a new threat on the left, with Glucksmann well positioned to attract centre-left voters who once supported Macron but are reluctant to back Mélenchon, observers say.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)