![French leftist hosts hologram meeting in run-off push](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/a2/cf/fb/French-leftist-hosts-hologram-meeti-181323.jpg)
-
What's the fallout of Mexican drug lords' capture?
-
Video game makers see actors as AI 'data,' says union on strike
-
Chinese qualifier Shang to face Thompson in ATP Atlanta semis
-
Concern grows as Venezuela blocks election observers
-
'Massive attack' on French rail threatens more chaos
-
'We did it!': France breathes sigh of relief after Olympics ceremony
-
Blinken, in Laos, set for talks with Chinese foreign minister
-
Regional concern grows as Venezuela blocks vote observers
-
Historic river parade, Dion show-stopper ignite Paris Olympics
-
Rainy Paris Olympic parade dampens many spectators' spirits
-
G20 pledges to work together to tax ultra-rich
-
The one of a kind Paris opening ceremony: five memorable moments
-
Justin Timberlake seeks to dismiss DUI case
-
Warner Brothers Discovery sues NBA over Amazon rights deal
-
Kobe Bryant locker, Maradona jersey up for auction in New York
-
Historic river parade launches Paris Olympics
-
Stocks rise as US inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
New York family of Holocaust victim reclaims Nazi-looted art
-
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
-
Thousands evacuate season's biggest wildfire in northern California
-
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
-
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
-
Lady Gaga adds sparkle to star-studded Olympic show
-
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
-
Teams sail down Seine in rain-soaked Olympics opening ceremony
-
Norris hoping for more after topping Belgian practice times
-
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
-
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
-
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
-
Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support
-
Trump meets Israeli PM Netanyahu in Florida
-
S.African police say 95 Libyans detained at suspected military camp
-
Blinken set for talks with Chinese counterpart in Laos
-
Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice
-
G20 seeks common ground on taxing super-rich
-
European medicines watchdog rejects new Alzheimer's drug
-
Harris gets vital Obama backing in battle against Trump
-
Habib, Ebden eye Alcaraz and Djokovic shocks at Olympics tennis
-
Stocks rise as inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
-
Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders face US charges after stunning capture
-
Spain train driver jailed for 2.5 years over deadly 2013 crash
-
Paris poised for Olympic opening ceremony spectacular
-
Judoka fails doping test in first case at Paris Olympics
-
Holder and Da Silva keep England at bay after West Indies collapse
-
Alpine F1 boss Bruno Famin to leave in August
-
Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy
-
Brazilian dunes dotted with dazzling pools make UNESCO heritage list
-
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
-
French Rugby's Jaminet suspended 34 weeks after racist video: Federation
![French leftist hosts hologram meeting in run-off push](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/a2/cf/fb/French-leftist-hosts-hologram-meeti-181323.jpg)
French leftist hosts hologram meeting in run-off push
The leading left-wing candidate in France's presidential election Jean-Luc Melenchon on Tuesday held a raucous final meeting that saw him beamed into a dozen French cities by hologram as he seeks to sneak into a second round run-off.
Polls predict that President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen will go through to the April 24 second round after Sunday's vote but Melenchon is convinced he is close enough behind in third place to spring a surprise.
As in 2017, his far-left campaign has upstaged the Socialist Party, the traditional standard bearer of the French left, while Communists and Greens have also failed to make an impact.
The latest Elabe poll published Tuesday put Macron on 25 percent in the second round, Le Pen on 23 percent and Melenchon still snapping at their heels on 16 percent.
Repeating a tactic he used in 2017, Melenchon addressed a rally in person in the northern city of Lille while at the same time supporters in 11 other French cities heard him address them simultaneously via hologram.
"If I get to the second round, I will meet you the following Sunday (April 17) no doubt at Charlety Stadium" in Paris, he told supporters.
"And there we will gather in our thousands! To show that we are determined to change the world! Because this is what we will do if we win the election!"
In his address, Melenchon called for an end to the "presidential monarchy" that he said has been brought to "ridiculous extremes" under the presidency of Macron.
"In these three days before the end of the campaign, the France which is searching for itself, the people who are looking will say to themselves 'here is France, here is the one we want'" he said.
"I don't care if I am accused of demagoguery," said the leader of the France Unbowed (LFI) party. "It is not the fault of the poor person if they are poor, of the ill person if they are sick."
He added: "It's always rebels who help give birth to the future."
Seeking to burnish his international leftist credentials, Melenchon's campaign earlier said he had won endorsements from the former Brazilian president Lula and his successor Dilma Rousseff.
In a radio interview earlier Tuesday, Melenchon hinted he could even sneak into the second round at the expense of Macron.
"Macron against Le Pen -- it's not going to happen.... "Look at the (poll) curves," he told Sud Radio.
J.Horn--BTB