Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY JAN 17 2022

A6 WORLD NEWS
Monday 17 January 2022
French far-left presidential hopeful woos voters with jobs

Associated Press trance to Sunday’s event.
(AP) — Far-left French presi- The 70-year-old Melenchon
dential candidate Jean- drew attention in the 2017
Luc Melenchon embraced presidential race for hold-
migrants and Russia and ing simultaneous cam-
derided campaign rivals paign rallies via hologram.
Sunday as he sought to A similar show is planned
reinvigorate his flagging for early April.
campaign for April’s elec- He was the strongest-per-
tion with an unusual “im- forming left-wing candi-
mersive and olfactory” date in 2017, winning 19.6%
rally. of the vote, but came in
Yes, olfactory: The cam- fourth. This time there are six
paign team diffused vari- left-wing candidates vying
ous smells into the exhibi- for the April 10 first-round
tion hall in the western city vote, and polls suggest
of Nantes, surrounding par- none will make the likely
ticipants with screens and runoff of the top two vote-
speakers. getters on April 24.
While the videos were pow- Many voters are unde-
erful, with ocean waves cided and the field of
and starscapes transport- candidates is still shifting.
ing the crowd as Melen- According to pollsters,
chon talked about sea pol- French Far-left presidential candidate for the 2022 election Jean-Luc Melenchon gestures as he Macron’s strongest chal-
lution and the dangers of speaks during a meeting in Nantes, western France, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeremias lengers so far are far-right
wars in space, the aromatic Gonzalez) leader Marine Le Pen, who
part was a bit of a flop. The he beat in the 2017 runoff;
masked crowd had trouble grabbed most of the at- households. His campaign sia a “partner,” even as Eu- conservative Republicans
smelling anything at all, tention so far. Melenchon platform calls for France to ropean governments are candidate Valerie Pecres-
or identifying the scents — a political firebrand with pull out of NATO, disobey scrambling to find ways to se, who visited a migrant
-- some described fruity or a notorious temper — re- EU rules, legalize cannabis, avert a possible Russian in- camp in Greece this week-
marine aromas, others re- fuses to form a united front renationalize some busi- vasion of Ukraine. end to push for stemming
portedly smelled gasoline with other left-wing candi- nesses, block energy price And he had little kindness migration to Europe; and
— or their connection to dates against centrist Presi- rises, and spend more on for his rivals on the left. populist far-right pundit Eric
what Melenchon was say- dent Emmanuel Macron, fighting racial and other “We don’t need union. We Zemmour, who has been
ing. who’s expected to seek discrimination. While oth- need clarity and people’s repeatedly convicted of
The event came as the re-election. At Sunday’s er candidates are railing mobilization,” he said. “I’m hate speech.
once-powerful French left rally, Melenchon promised against migration, Melen- not their friend.” Other contenders include
wing is deeply fractured to guarantee jobs for ev- chon said migrants are Melenchon has criticized Socialist Paris Mayor Anne
and struggling to make eryone, raise the minimum “welcome” in France, call- the French government’s Hidalgo, Greens party can-
its voice heard in a cam- wage, lower the retirement ing immigration the “No. 1 vaccine and virus rules as didate Yannick Jadot, and
paign where far-right and age to 60 and hike taxes factor” in human progress. too restrictive, but his team former justice minister Chris-
conservative figures have on multinationals and rich He also proudly called Rus- distributed masks at the en- tiane Taubira.q

Mali ex-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita dies at 76

forced resignation in Au- against his presidency. agreeing to an election by
gust 2020, and had sought Keita had three years left the end of next month.
medical treatment in in his final term when muti- A protest movement
Dubai, United Arab Emir- nous soldiers detained him against Keita’s presiden-
ates, shortly after his release at his residence in August cy saw tens of thousands
from junta custody. 2020 after firing shots out- demonstrate in the streets
His death early Sunday side the house. Hours later, in the months leading up
— announced in an alert he appeared in a midnight to his overthrow. As dis-
by the state broadcaster broadcast on state tele- content with his leadership
ORTM — comes as the vision, telling Malians he mounted, Keita had tried
sprawling African nation would resign immediately. to make concessions to his
faces a deepening politi- “I wish no blood to be shed critics, saying he was even
cal crisis. The coup leader to keep me in power,” Kei- open to redoing the vote.
who ousted Keita has no ta said at the time. “I have But those overtures were
Mali's former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has died nearly immediate plans for a re- decided to step down from swiftly rejected by opposi-
18 months after he was ousted in a military coup. Keita's death
was announced Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022 in Bamako, where the turn to democracy as ini- office.” tion leaders, who said they
76-year-old had been battling health problems in recent years. tially promised. West African regional lead- wouldn’t stop short of Kei-
(Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP, File) Keita won the historic 2013 ers imposed tough eco- ta’s departure.
presidential election held nomic sanctions earlier Support for Keita also tum-
(AP) — Ibrahim Boubacar er military takeover nearly to restore democracy after this month after Col. Assimi bled amid criticism of his
Keita, the former president seven years later, has died. a 2012 coup. But only seven Goita, who heads the tran- government’s handling
of Mali who took office in He was 76. years later he himself was sitional government, indi- of the Islamic insurgency,
a landmark election held Keita, known to Malians by ousted by another military cated that the next presi- which significantly expand-
after a destabilizing coup his initials IBK, had been in takeover following months dential election won’t be ed into central Mali during
only to be ousted in anoth- declining health since his of public demonstrations held until 2026, after initially his tenure. q