PARIS, April 8 (Reuters) – Two days before the first round of the French presidential election, the distance duel between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, favorites in the polls, hardened on Friday, the incumbent president accusing of racism and lies his main opponent, who denounced “outrageous and aggressive remarks”.
On the left, the candidate of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, gleaned strong support capable of consolidating his upturn at the end of the campaign – that of the former Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira, who called for a “vote useful”.
According to a BVA poll for RTL and Orange, three points now separate Emmanuel Macron (26%, -1) from Marine Le Pen (23%, +2). The LFI candidate confirms his outsider status at 17.5% (+2).
The candidate of the Republicans Valérie Pécresse regresses to 8.5%, preceded by the candidate of “Reconquest!”, Eric Zemmour (9.5%).
In the event of a Macron-Le Pen second round, the outgoing president would win with 53% of the vote against 47% for the far-right candidate.
Expressing Friday morning on RTL his frustration at having entered the campaign late, in particular because of the Ukrainian conflict, Emmanuel Macron assured not to be in “febrility” while concern gained the ranks of the majority in the face of the push of the extreme right.
“To conquer, to convince, to move forward… I have the spirit of conquest rather than the spirit of defeat,” he said.
The head of state, whom his competitors accuse of having fled the debate, again defended himself from having “looked down on the French” during his five-year term.
“Power isolates, I felt it, resolutely, but I never stopped going into contact”, he said, invoking the “republican tradition” to explain his refusal to debate before the first round . “The time for debate and confrontation project against project, it’s the second round.”
PÉCRESSE WILL NOT GIVE VOTING INSTRUCTIONS
In an interview published Friday in Le Parisien, Emmanuel Macron, who is trying to revive the scenario of the “republican front”, focuses his attacks on Marine Le Pen, his opponent in 2017, accusing him of proposing “a false social program” , “a racist program, which aims to divide society and of great brutality”.
Marine Le Pen, who ended her campaign in Narbonne (Pyrénées-Orientales) on Friday, swept away “outrageous and aggressive remarks” on franceinfo.
“I challenge him to find a single proposal in my program that discriminates against the French because of their origin, their religion or the color of their skin, that’s racism,” she said, pointing out that the “national priority” was not a racist policy.
“It is natural that in France we seek to find jobs for the French,” she said. “It is the only discrimination that is moral, legal and permissible.”
In the first round of the 2017 presidential election, Emmanuel Macron came out on top with 24.01% of the vote, ahead of Marine Le Pen (21.30%). The candidate of La République en Marche won in the second round with 66.10% of the vote.
Now largely behind in voting intentions, Valérie Pécresse announced Friday on France Inter that she would not give voting instructions for the second round if she failed on Sunday.
“I will never give instructions to the French because the French are free and they are the ones who vote,” said the Republican candidate.
TAUBIRA CALLS FOR A VOTE FOR MÉLENCHON
Marine Le Pen hailed on franceinfo “a wise decision” which, according to her, denotes “a change in jurisprudence at LR”. The center-right party “does not at all want to be taken like a flock of sheep to Emmanuel Macron, as was the case in 2017”, estimated the RN candidate.
On the other hand, the way is clear for the “third man” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, fourth in the first round in 2017 (19.58%), who aims to embody the “useful vote” in a fractured left.
Christiane Taubira, who was unable to formalize her candidacy for the Elysee Palace for lack of a sufficient number of elected officials, invited in a press release on Friday to vote for the herald of the far left in order to “bar the road” on the far right in the first round.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon thanked her on Twitter for “her call to build a second round worthy of our history”.
Attacked by environmentalist Yannick Jadot (EELV), who accuses him of guilty complacency towards Russian leader Vladimir Poutine, and socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo, who accuses him of “brainwashing” voters, Jean-Luc Mélenchon is refused on Friday on BFM TV and RMC to spread “chaos”, although the language “stings” him.
“Now is not the time to do that. On the contrary, we need to mobilize and we do not mobilize if we spend our time throwing stones at each other,” he said.
The Communist Party candidate, Fabien Roussel, regretted the calls for a “useful vote”.
“To say that to young people who are going to vote for the first time, I find it sad. A useful vote with the same people, the same trio, the same people, the same scenario? And to obtain what result, in the end?”, has he launched on France 2.
The campaign for the first round of the presidential election ends Friday at midnight. (Written by Sophie Louet with Nicolas Delame, Myriam Rivet, Matthieu Protard)