French President Emmanuel Macron wants to wait for the “end of the crisis” between Moscow and Kiev before announcing his run in the April presidential election.
“I would not be able to reasonably explain to the French that I am surrendering to this important democratic process, when I promised to hold the presidency to the end, and now there is the crisis on the Ukrainian border that threatens our common security,” he said In an interview published Wednesday in the regional newspaper La Voix du Nord.
Emmanuel Macron has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone several times in recent days, and the French presidential office said he could visit Moscow in the coming days.
A poll released by Elabe polling on BFM on Wednesday indicates that Emmanuel Macron would defeat all three potential right-wing candidates, Marine Le Pen, Valérie Pécresse and Éric Zemmour, in the second round of the presidential election if the election were held now. According to the survey, the head of state can expect 25 percent of the vote in the first round. In second place is Le Pen, the head of state for the National Rally, with 16.5 per cent support, while Valérie Pécresse, the center-right candidate, stands at 16 percent, and the author and political commentator turned presidential candidate Éric Zemmour has 12.5 percent of support.
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If Valérie Pécresse were the president’s challenger in the second round, Emmanuel Macron would win 55.5 percent, according to a recent poll, and the Republican candidate would reach 44.5 percent.
If Le Pen were to reach the second round, Macron would win 56 percent. Compared to the result five years ago, Le Pen’s support has improved significantly (44 percent), but polls say it’s not enough to win. In the second round of 2017, Macron won 66 percent of the votes, defeating Le Pen who earned only 34 percent of the vote.
Against Zemmour, Macron could expect 64.5 percent support if the election were held now and the publicist would receive only 35.5 percent of the vote. The survey also drew attention to the fact that so far only 62 percent of voters are sure who they will vote for and only 55 percent said they would definitely go to the polls. Le Pen’s camp is the most stable (75 percent), ahead of Macron voters (72 percent).
The first round of the presidential election will be held on April 10 and the second on April 24.
