Watch live French Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen hold a rally in Arras
Emmanuel Macron maintains a 12-point poll lead over Marine Le Pen, the far-right challenger in the French presidential election, after a heated televised debate on Wednesday night.
As the campaign entered its final days, both candidates returned to the campaign trail to gather as much support as possible ahead of Sunday’s vote.
Mr Macron, the centrist president who is hoping for re-election, was visiting the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, while Ms Le Pen, who is positioning herself as the voice of the neglected working class, was in the northern industrial region of Hauts-de-France.
In Saint-Denis, the President warned the crowd about his opponent, saying: “We must not get used to the rise of far-right ideas.”
Ms Le Pen accused Mr Macron of “boundless arrogance” at a rally in the city of Arras, both in Wednesday’s debate and in the five years of his presidency. She said he was lenient on immigration and called his economic record “disastrous”.
The leaders of Germany, Spain and Portugal backed Mr Macron on Thursday.
Important points
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Macron says the EU cannot allow a new Iron Curtain
Something else from Emmanuel Macron’s media interviews this morning.
The President said EU nations must not allow a new Iron Curtain to fall across the continent – but it is also important to take into account differing views within the bloc on Russia and the war in Ukraine.
Zoe Tidman22. Apr 2022 08:58
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Marine Le Pen says she ‘spent eight months trying to get French to abstain’
Both candidates are making media rounds as the election draws near.
“I’ve spent eight months in this presidential campaign trying to get the French out of abstention,” Marine Le Pen said this morning.
The far-right leader said she believes the split between the French people and their representatives can be closed with “democratic paraphernalia”, including proportional representation and popular self-triggered referendums.
Zoe Tidman22. Apr 2022 08:49
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Le Pen draws on anger I haven’t repressed, Macron says
Emmanuel Macron said he failed to quell some of the anger in the country and that his far-right rival Marine Le Pen used some of it in her election campaign.
“And there we have it. She’s made some progress, she’s covered up by making this our problem and she’s managed to draw from it,” the president, who hopes to be re-elected at the weekend, told France Inter Radio.
Zoe Tidman22. April 2022 08:05
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Tory and Brexit supporters back far-right Marine Le Pen, poll says
Conservatives and Brexit supporters want far-right candidate Marine Le Pen to become president of France, a YouGov poll has found.
At least 37 percent of Tory voters backed the right-wing leader, while just 24 percent support centrist Emmanuel Macron.
The two will face off in a critical runoff on Sunday, with Mr Macron just six points clear of his rival, according to polls.
The range for Leave voters in the 2016 Brexit referendum is even wider, with 35 to 19 percent preferring Le Pen to the current President.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22. April 2022 07:30
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Le Pen tells voters to choose “between Macron and France”.
At her last campaign rally in Arras, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen urged voters to choose between “Macron and France.”
“To block [Macron]You can’t abstain, you have to choose,” she told her followers, according to France24.
She added, “You must vote for the only front that is truly Republican, the anti-Macron front.”
Ms Le Pen slammed her opponent’s “boundless arrogance” and projected herself as a nationalist “president who will respect the French” compared to Mr Macron “who doesn’t like her”.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22. April 2022 07:00
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Macron and Le Pen make last-ditch efforts to win presidential race
Incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen made a last-ditch attempt on Thursday to woo voters ahead of Sunday’s presidential election.
While Ms Le Pen left for her stronghold in Arras, Mr Macron visited the multicultural Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, where far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon lashed out during the first-round vote.
According to French electoral rules, the entire election campaign must be completed by midnight on Friday.
After Wednesday’s fiery marathon debate, Mr Macron has a six to 13 point lead over Ms Le Pen, according to the latest opinion polls.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22. April 2022 06:28
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Macron warns Muslim voters about the consequences of Le Pen’s election
Incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron tried to woo disaffected left-wing voters in the final leg of the election campaign, warning them of the consequences for the Muslim community if his far-right rival Marine Le Pen is elected to power.
On a visit to the multicultural Parisian community of Saint-Denis, Mr Macron accused his rival of excluding foreign citizens from public housing, Politico reported.
As an example, he said: “A young Moroccan woman who has two children who work in the hospital, who has been applauded every night during the pandemic … with Madame Le Pen’s program we will take away her social housing and her family benefits”.
“It’s a program of discord,” added Mr. Macron, while criticizing Ms. Le Pen for “confusing terrorism, insecurity, immigration, Islam and Islamism all the time.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar22. April 2022 05:19
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When will the French election results be announced?
France’s voters will vote on Sunday April 24 to decide who will be the next President (Joe Sommerlad writes).
An exit poll is expected to be released at 19:00 GMT on Sunday, with the final official results being announced the following day.
Mr Macron secured 27.8 percent of the vote 11 days ago versus Ms Le Pen’s 23.1 percent and currently leads in opinion polls 56-44 percent, although Sunday’s vote is expected to be a close contest nonetheless.
Liam James22. April 2022 03:00
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Macron wins TV debate but sounded arrogant, French voters say
French voters believe President Emmanuel Macron was the big winner of the televised political debate with far-right challenger Marine Le Pen, but they also believe he appeared arrogant, according to a poll (Borzhou Daragahi writes).
The poll, conducted by the Elabe company for French TV channel BFM and L’Express magazine, found that 59 percent of viewers saw Mr Macron as the winner of the fiery confrontation with Ms Le Pen, which was seen as a winner by just 39 percent.
According to numerous polls, the French leader is expected to win Sunday’s vote with 52 to 56 percent of the vote. But Ms Le Pen, who won just a third of the vote against Mr Macron in a 2017 election campaign, remains within striking distance and a surprise victory for the challenger cannot be ruled out.
Among supporters of left-wing first-round presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, 61 percent saw Mr Macron as the winner of the debate, as opposed to 36 percent who saw Ms Le Pen as the winner.
Liam James22. April 2022 02:00
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Macron retains the lead in the polls after the TV debate
Emmanuel Macron stayed ahead of his opponent Marine Le Pen in the race for the French presidency after a heated televised debate on Wednesday, a poll has found.
According to an OpinionWay/Kea Partners poll conducted between April 20 and 21, the incumbent was seen as the winner of re-election with an unchanged 56 percent of the vote.
However, uncertainty about the final outcome remained high as the poll also forecast a turnout of 72 percent – the lowest since 1969.
Viewers of the only debate between the two final candidates thought Mr Macron was prone to bouts of arrogance but also found him more persuasive and apt to become president, a separate Elabe poll for BFM TV found.
Ms Le Pen, who focused on expressing empathy with people she said had “suffered” since Mr Macron hit her in 2017, was judged to be slightly more in line with voters’ concerns, but her far-right views were still viewed as much more worrying, according to the survey.
Liam James22. April 2022 00:45