High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Olivier Besancenot (born on 18 April 1974) is a French far left political figure and trade unionist who has become a leading opponent of President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was a candidate for the 2007 French presidential election, for the Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (LCR), the French section of the Fourth International. He gained 1.2 million votes, 4.25%, standing as a revolutionary socialist in the 2002 presidential elections. In the first round of the 2007 presidential election, Besancenot received 4.08% of the vote, just short of 1.5 million votes, placing him fifth and eliminating him from the race.