PARIS (Reuters) – The candidate of the Republicans (LR), Valérie Pécresse, announced on Friday that she would not give voting instructions for the second round of the presidential election if she fails in the first round on Sunday.
The former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy is credited with 8.5% to 9% of voting intentions for the first round. Polls predict a second-round duel between outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen.
Asked whether she would decide for one of the two finalists, Valérie Pécresse replied on France Inter: “No instructions, because I think the French do not want instructions.”
“I will say who I am voting for, but no instructions, and I hope to be in the second round, and I think I will win,” she said.
“I will never give instructions to the French because the French are free and they are the ones who vote,” she said.
Asked to say if she would accept a government post in the event of the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, she was categorical: “I do not wish to have responsibilities with a President of the Republic who pursues a policy that I disapprove of.”
(Written by Sophie Louet)
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