The left-wing former French justice minister, Christiane Taubira, has announced her intention to run in the French presidential election in April.
The firebrand socialist confirmed her candidacy on Saturday in a move that will further expand the fragmented field of left-wing candidates, of whom six have already entered the election.
The 69-year-old, who hails originally from French Guiana, was Minister of Justice from 2012 to 2016 during François Hollande’s presidential mandate and previously stood for the presidency back in 2002.
The public associates the politician with her fight to legalize marriages for gay couples, which the new law made possible in 2013, and consider her to have been a driving force behind a law change in 2001 that formally recognized the Atlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity.
Her rivals from the left include Yannick Jadot; Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the far-left MEP; Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris; and the communist, Fabien Roussel.
According to political scientists, Taubira’s candidacy will further split the vote among the field of left-wing candidates. The left as a whole may lose votes and close the prospects of a possible left-wing politician entering the second round of elections.
Current president, Emmanuel Macron, has the best chances of victory currently with polling suggesting he would acquire between 22 and 23 percent of the vote in the first round.
Marine Le Pen, a candidate from the right-wing National Rally; and fellow conservative, Valérie Pécresse, would compete for a second place. According to polls, the far-right candidate, former political commentator Éric Zemmour, would end in fourth place.
