(Paris) Emmanuel Macron, a great supporter of the “at the same time” of right and left, garnered Tuesday the support of Nicolas Sarkozy and Lionel Jospin for the second round of the presidential election against Marine Le Pen, who attacks him on his “obsession” with retirement at 65.
Posted at 6:37
The two finalists are engaged in a tough battle for the particularly undecided ballot on April 24. They are trying to broaden their electoral base, especially on the left, on the side of the very courted voters of the leader of La France Insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon, with his 21.95% of the votes in the first round.
Former Head of State Nicolas Sarkozy justified his support by the fact that Emmanuel Macron was “the only one in a position to act”, invoking on Facebook “fidelity to the values of the Republican right” and “the valorization of the work” by the outgoing president.
“I will vote for Emmanuel Macron,” said Nicolas Sarkozy, who had never supported LR candidate Valérie Pécresse in the first round, to the chagrin of the party he had created. After their rout on Sunday, with less than 5% of the vote, the Republicans launched an appeal for donations to reimburse campaign expenses.
“Two rejection movements”
A few minutes later, Lionel Jospin, Jacques Chirac’s former cohabitation prime minister (1997-2002) also gave his support to the candidate president: “as the country is faced with two rejection movements, I will rule out Marine Le Pen and I will vote for Emmanuel Macron,” he told AFP.
For the first round, he had supported the socialist Anne Hidalgo, who with 1.75% made the worst score in the history of her political family. During the 2002 presidential election, Lional Jospin was eliminated against Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round.
The day after a tour in the north on popular lands which overwhelmingly voted Marine Le Pen in the first round, Emmanuel Macron is expected Tuesday in the Grand-Est.
In Mulhouse, he will meet caregivers, then go to Strasbourg in the evening, two cities having put Mr. Mélenchon in the lead on Sunday with 35-36% of the vote.
Assailed all day Monday on his retirement age project at 65, Emmanuel Macron ended up sending a strong signal to the popular electorate by saying he was ready to “move” on this totem of his program, half-opening the carries a starting age of 64. An unexpected concession thirteen days before the second round.
” Obsession ”
But for his rival RN, who defends the maintenance of retirement at 62, the outgoing president “will go to the end of his obsession” on retirement at 65 if he is re-elected, seeing in the amendment of his project “a manoeuvre” vis-à-vis leftist voters.
“I have no confidence in Emmanuel Macron, but none, and even less ten days before the second round” of the presidential election, she said on France Inter.
“All French people are extremely intelligent, all have understood, it is Emmanuel Macron’s maneuver to try to recover, or in any case to attenuate, the opposition of left-wing voters”, she estimated.
The RN candidate also denounced the “betrayal” of Jean-Luc Mélenchon vis-à-vis his voters, called upon not to give a voice to the far right, while according to her Emmanuel Macron led “a violently antisocial policy “.
Marine Le Pen and the Insoumis leader attracted a young and popular electorate in the first round, while the outgoing president scored high among retirees and executives.
At this point, the Insoumis leader’s electorate intends to vote “34% for Emmanuel Macron, 30% for Marine Le Pen, which is more than in 2017, and 36% to stay at home. “, according to Brice Teinturier, director of Ipsos.
Anxious to smooth her image even if her program, in particular on immigration, remains radical, the candidate of the National Rally also wanted on France Inter to stand out from Eric Zemmour, by rejecting the possibility that he would be part of the government if she entered the Elysée.
Before the first round, Emmanuel Macron had described the two far-right candidates as a “tandem which limps along, which says everything and its opposite, which remains convinced by the same ideas, to divide the country”.
Marine Le Pen is to hold a press conference on the theme of “democracy” in Vernon, in the Eure, before being the guest of the 8 p.m. newspaper on TF1.