This is indicated by polls that slightly favor Macrist’s centrist, with some polls in the president’s lead ranging from a statistical error. For example, a Ifop poll for TF1 television showed that Macron could get 51 percent of the vote, while Le Pen could get 49 percent.
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The Élabe Institute for BFM reported 52% to 48 percent in favor of the incumbent president.
Most of the failed candidates called on their supporters to vote for Macron in the second round.
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Only another far-right candidate, Éric Zemmour (63), stood behind Le Pen. The biggest focus is on the voters of the left-wing radical Jean-Luke Mélenchon, 70, who finished third in the first round with 22 percent of the vote.
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Although Mélenchon said that Le Pen must not get “no vote” in the final, he did not explicitly support Macron when he said that the president had left France “in a desperate state”. According to polls, a third of Mélenchon’s voters could vote for Macron, another third for Le Pen and the remaining third will not go to the polls.
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Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen
Photo: ČTK
Jean-Marie Le Pen (93), Le Pen’s father and founder of her party (then called the National Front), is clear: “Marine will be the next president of the republic,” Le Parisien said, adding that remarkable result ’.
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On the other hand, Alexis Brézet (59), editor-in-chief of the influential conservative daily Le Figaro, thinks Macron should not miss the victory. However, he said, the president should be “careful” about Mélenchon’s supporters, because they could create a protest bloc, which the government must not underestimate.
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The TV duel will be on April 20
Macron seems to be aware of the tightness of his lead and repeats that “nothing has been won yet”. He therefore wants to intensify his campaign in the next two weeks, which was not very visible before the first round, partly due to diplomatic activities around Ukraine.
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Over the next 14 days, Macron has planned several trips throughout France – in the coming days it will visit Strasbourg in the east and the port city of Le Havre in the west. He also plans to take part in a television duel with Le Pen scheduled for April 20.
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Valérie Pécresse (54), an unsuccessful presidential candidate of the opposition Republicans, asked the public for a financial contribution to pay for her campaign. “The survival of the Republican right” is at stake, she said, adding that she owed herself five million euros (122 million CZK).
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| Round 1 results (in percent) | |
| Emmanuel Macron | 27,8 |
| Marine Le Pen | 23,2 |
| Jean-Luc Melenchon | 22 |
| Eric Zemmour | 7,1 |
| Valerie Pécresseova | 4,8 |
| Yannick Jadot | 4,6 |
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