Candidates in France’s looming presidential election pushed at the weekend to make themselves heard over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with a rerun of 2017’s final showdown still the most likely outcome.
Buoyed in part by his shuttle diplomacy ahead of the conflict and toughness on Moscow since the tanks began to roll, liberal French President Emmanuel Macron is riding high in the polls with two weeks to go.
However, as the president “is totally absorbed by the international crisis, it’s very difficult to be present and to campaign,” a source close to him told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Photo: AFP
Short of a major upset, his opponent in the runoff would be far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen — exactly the same setup as five years ago.
A trio of candidates — far-right rival Eric Zemmour, conservative Valerie Pecresse and left-winger Jean-Luc Melenchon — still hope they can break out from the pack and take on Macron in the second round.
“Everything could be decided in the two weeks to come, they could count double,” Adelaide Zulfikarpasic of the BVA Opinion polling group told reporters.
“Four out of 10 voters who say they are certain to cast their ballot are still undecided” on a candidate, she said.
Zemmour yesterday hoped to rally up to 50,000 people a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, busing in supporters from other parts of France.
“This will be the event of the campaign, the biggest gathering,” the candidate told Sud Radio on Friday, saying that “since the beginning, my meetings have touched off the greatest excitement.”
Yet Zemmour, a former columnist and TV commentator, has fallen below 10 percent in some polls. That is far short of support ranging at about 20 percent for Le Pen and close to 30 percent for Macron.
The National Rally leader strove to project serenity as members of her own camp — including her niece Marion Marechal — deserted her for tougher-talking Zemmour.
Instead Le Pen has pounded the pavements campaigning on French streets and market squares, and last week urged potential Zemmour voters to back her if she reaches the second round as forecast.
With Zemmour and Le Pen slogging it out for the hard-right vote and Macron sounding pro-business and law-and-order notes, conservative Valerie Pecresse has struggled to make herself heard.
Her woes deepened on Thursday when she announced that a positive COVID-19 test would keep her from planned campaign stops in western France and the southeast.
Also yesterday, the leading left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon — polling at 12 to 15 percent — was rallying supporters in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille.
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