French election: Macron backed by mainstream parties to shut out Le Pen
The presence of EU flags at Mr Macron's rally was not lost on supporters and opponents
The presence of EU flags at Mr Macron's rally was not lost on supporters and opponents

[BBC] – France’s beaten mainstream parties have lined up behind Emmanuel Macron to try to stave off a victory for the far-right’s Marine Le Pen in the final round of the presidential election.

The Republicans’ François Fillon and Socialist Benoît Hamon urged supporters to vote for Mr Macron on 7 May. President François Hollande has also said he will vote for Mr Macron.

Ms Le Pen quickly turned her fire on her rival, calling him a “weakling” for his anti-terrorism policies. The victory of the two candidates in Sunday’s first round meant that, for the first time in six decades, neither of France’s main left-wing or right-wing parties had a candidate remaining in the election.

Conceding defeat, Mr Fillon, third on Sunday with 19.9%, said there was “no other choice than voting against the far-right”.

Mr Hamon, who represented the Socialists of unpopular President François Hollande and who was trounced into fifth with just 6.4%, said voters had to keep Ms Le Pen – “an enemy of the republic” – from power.

President Hollande, in a TV address on Monday, said the far-right would threaten the rupture of Europe, “profoundly divide France” and “faced with such a risk, I will vote for Emmanuel Macron”.

However, the position of the fourth-placed candidate, hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who took a creditable 19.6%, was still unclear.

He pointedly refused to back Mr Macron, whose pro-EU, pro-business and pro-globalisation stance is diametrically opposed to his anti-austerity, eurosceptic approach. Steeve Briois, vice-president of Ms Le Pen’s National Front, said it was hoping to win over Mr Mélenchon’s supporters, who he called “outside the system”.

“The voters who voted for Mr Mélenchon are angry voters. They can be in agreement with us,” Mr Briois told the Associated Press.

However, protesters who burned cars at the Place de la Bastille and Place de la Republique in Paris overnight were chanting “No Marine and No Macron!”

The latest opinion poll, by Opinionway, suggested a second-round victory for Mr Macron by 61% to 39%. But there were warnings from Mr Macron’s own party following a glitzy victory celebration at a Paris bistro that the job was not yet done.

“We need to be humble. The election hasn’t been won and we need to bring people together to win,” Richard Ferrand, secretary-general of Mr Macron’s En Marche movement, said.

The National Front said that while Mr Macron’s supporters were recovering “from their showbiz evening”, Ms Le Pen was out canvassing in a market a small northern town.

She quickly attacked her rival: “Mr Macron is a weakling. Here we have a candidate who doesn’t have a programme to protect the French people from the threat posed by Islamist terrorism.”

She added: “He is a hysterical, radical ‘Europeanist’. He is for total open borders. He says there is no such thing as French culture.”

What does Mr Macron stand for?

At 39, Mr Macron could become the youngest president France has ever had – and the first president in the Fifth Republic who does not belong to a major party.

He secured 8.4 million votes – more than any other candidate – in the first round. Mr Macron was Mr Hollande’s economy minister but quit to create En Marche.

His campaign promises include:

  • A €50bn (£43bn; $53bn) public investment plan to cover job-training, exit from coal and shift to renewable energy, infrastructure and modernisation
  • Big cut in corporation tax and more leeway for companies to renegotiate 35-hour working week
  • Cut in jobless rate to 7% (now 9.7%)
  • Ban on mobile phone use in schools for under-15s and a €500 culture pass for 18 year oldsIn a victory speech to supporters, Mr Macron borrowed language favoured by his rival to describe himself as the patriotic choice for France.

    “I hope that in a fortnight I will become your president. I want to become the president of all the people of France – the president of the patriots in the face of the threat from the nationalists,” he said.

    What about Ms Le Pen?

    Ms Le Pen took over the FN leadership from her father in January 2011 and helped her party secure big gains in regional elections.

    She won 7.6 million votes on Sunday – the strongest ever result for a FN candidate, and 2.8 million more than her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, won for the FN in 2002. Her party wants to slash immigration, clamp down on free trade, and overturn France’s relationship with Europe.

    Her campaign has called for:

    • Negotiation with Brussels on a new EU, followed by a referendum
    • “Automatic” expulsion of illegal immigrants and legal immigration cut to 10,000 per year following an immediate total moratorium
    • “Extremist” mosques closed and priority to French nationals in social housing
    • Retirement age fixed at 60 and 35-hour week assuredFollowing the first round results, Ms Le Pen made an “appeal to all patriots”, saying a vote for her was the key to the “survival of France”.

      How has the EU responded?

      The election is being watched closely – after the Brexit vote in the UK and election of US President Donald Trump challenged liberal values and the political establishment.

      Many European leaders congratulated Mr Macron as they are keen to strengthen the union after Brexit.

      What does French result mean for Brexit?

      German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffan Seibert, tweeted: “It’s good that Emmanuel Macron was successful with his course for a strong EU and social market economy. All the best for the next two weeks.”

      The president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, said he believed Marine Le Pen would not win and called on the French to get involved and defend the EU.

      Anti-EU politicians congratulated Ms Le Pen.

      Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who leads the anti-immigration Freedom Party, said the results were a “bright day for patriots in France and elsewhere who want more national sovereignty and less EU and immigration”.

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