Macron hangs on to lead in French election, Le Pen's camp rows with Brussels

[webfact]

Macron hangs on to lead in French election, Le Pen's camp rows with Brussels

By Richard Balmforth and Sarah White

REUTERS

 

Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, listens to General Director of the optic group KRYS Jean-Pierre Champion (L) during his visit at the headquarters of the KRYS group in Bazainville, France, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Samson/Pool

 

PARIS (Reuters) - Centrist Emmanuel Macron clung on to his status as favourite to win France's presidential election in a four-way race that is too close to call, as the camp of far-right challenger Marine Le Pen ramped up its eurosceptic rhetoric in a row with Brussels.

 

A closely-watched Cevipof opinion poll published on Wednesday showed frontrunners Macron and Le Pen both losing some momentum ahead of Sunday's first round, and conservative Francois Fillon and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon still in contention for the second round run-off.

 

With millions of French voters still undecided or planning to abstain, the vote is the most unpredictable in France in decades and investors are nervous about potential last-minute surprises that could trigger market turmoil.

 

Le Pen and Melenchon, who both pitch themselves as defenders of French workers, say they could take France out of the European Union and the euro currency. Banks have requisitioned their staff to be at their desks through the night on Sunday to enable them to respond fast to the outcome.

 

Le Pen has pressed hard her anti-immigration, anti-globalisation message as she seeks to mobilise voters.

 

As she prepared for the last big rally of her campaign in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, her camp became embroiled in an angry Twitter exchange with the European Commission.

 

Reacting to Le Pen's refusal to appear on France's TF1 television channel on Tuesday unless the EU's yellow-starred blue flag was removed, the Commission tweeted: "Proud of our flag, a symbol of unity, solidarity and harmony between the people of Europe. Let's not hide it."

 

Le Pen's deputy Florian Philippot fired back: "You'll see, we'll soon be sticking your oligarchic rag in the cupboard."

 

The election race for a successor to the deeply unpopular Francois Hollande has become increasingly tense as the gap between the leading candidates shrinks.

 

SECURITY IN FOCUS

 

The Cevipof poll of 11,601 people showed first round support for Le Pen falling 2.5 percentage points since early April to 22.5 percent and backing for Macron down 2 points to 23 percent.

 

Melenchon, a firebrand left-winger who has surged in recent weeks, was on 19 percent, while Fillon, whose campaign has been hurt by a financial scandal, received 19.5 percent of support.

 

Macron would win a head-to-head contest against National Front chief Le Pen, the poll showed.

 

Another poll, a daily survey by Opinionway, gave similar projections to Cevipof for the top candidates and projected Macron beating Le Pen in the May 7 second round by 65 percent to 35.

 

Abstention, a key factor adding to uncertainty over the outcome of the first round, was seen at 28 percent, Cevipof's survey found - near a record level that helped Marine's father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, make it to the runoff in 2002.

 

Another poll, conducted by BVA, showed Macron taking 24 percent of the vote in the first round, one point more than Le Pen, with Fillon and Melenchon tied on 19 percent.

 

The BVA poll showed abstentions at between 20 and 24 percent.

 

Fillon, 63, an ex-prime minister whose campaign was derailed by an embezzlement inquiry targeting him, his wife and two of his children, got last-minute public endorsements from ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and ex-prime minister Alain Juppe - two men he beat to win the presidential ticket of his party, The Republicans.

 

Fillon, who says he is victim of a "dirty tricks" campaign, said in comments reported by Le Parisien newspaper that he would work to ensure France's institutions better protected the confidentiality of sensitive information.

 

For large parts of the campaign, sleaze allegations have overshadowed hot button themes like unemployment and how to revive France's sluggish economy.

 

However, security and tackling the threat posed by Islamist militants has returned to the fore after the arrest of two men in Marseille on Tuesday suspected of plotting an imminent attack.

 

The Paris prosecutor said on Tuesday that a video linked to the two Frenchmen and intercepted in early April had featured a machine gun placed on a table as well as a newspaper which had one of the presidential candidates on the front page.

 

A source close to the investigation said on Wednesday that the candidate featured on the newspaper cutting was Fillon.

 

France's internal intelligence agency had warned the main candidates of a threat, campaign officials said.

 

(Additional reporting by Matthias Blamont, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Ingrid Melander, Emmanuel Jarry, Sophie Louet and Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Richard Lough and Adrian Croft)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-20

[thaibeachlovers]

Whoever wins, expect a move to tighten up on immigration, so no matter who wins, really. Job done.

[AGLV0121]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

expect a move to tighten up on immigration,

 

Migrant don't want to go to France, for one and second, France already has close to 11% of its population who are Muslims.

[stevenl]

28 minutes ago, AGLV0121 said:

 

Migrant don't want to go to France, for one and second, France already has close to 11% of its population who are Muslims.

Wikipedia

With an estimated total of 5 to 7 percent of the national population, France has the largest number of Muslims in Western Europe. 

 

Of course they do, this is simply the result of their colonial policies.

[AGLV0121]

17 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Wikipedia

 

is wrong.  WP is not the most accurate source of information. I know as I  used it (wik -tionary, -species, -data) as a base for an ML project with students in Montreal. We found much noise in the data.

7.7 million Muslims( about 11 percent of the population) in metropolitan France in 2011. We're now in 2017,  so you can expect the percentage to be higher due to higher birth rate.

 

And true, this results from their past colonial policies.

But apart from usual extremist rates in poor suburbs of Paris, Marseilles, Toulouse, most are well-integrated in French society.

 

[stevenl]

Yes, the percentage will be higher by now. But 11% seems (way) too high. The number of 11% probably stems from the percentage in metropolitan France, but there is more to France than that.

 

So it seems unlikely your claim " France already has close to 11% of its population who are Muslims. " is correct. Unless you have better sources of course.

Edited April 20, 2017 by stevenl

[AGLV0121]

48 minutes ago, stevenl said:

The number of 11% probably stems from the percentage in metropolitan France,

Yes.

re Wikipedia which you quoted:

... According to Jean-Paul Gourévitch, there were 7.7 million Muslims( about 11 percent of the population) in metropolitan France in 2011.

As for the rest of France (Carribean Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion, Polynesia), it is probably void of Muslims bit for some government employees.

This fact should have the rate drop but we're talking statistics where they belong (that was my major). Other sources claim 8.5%, 9.2% respectively.

Would be interesting to know how they obtained figures, as there are several statistical methods that can be applied. As well, how data was obtained.

So actually maybe noone knows! That's the beauty of statistics, which serve their master.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2017 by AGLV0121

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Le Pen and Melenchon, who both pitch themselves as defenders of French workers,

The workers have no defenders left. They have been sliced and diced into a "Its every man for himself" situation. Its the old divide and conquer. 

[Baerboxer]

Although many French support Le Pen or anyone who wants out of the Euro and EU and tighter immigration controls, when it comes to the actual election they usually opt for the middle of the road, little change as possible alternatives. Bottle less.

[Gillyflower]

Do you realise that France may have a BRIT ruling it as lst Lady!!!!!!  Things have come to a sorry turn.  I still can't work out for whom I'm going to vote.

[llz]

On 20/04/2017 at 5:00 AM, AGLV0121 said:

 

Migrant don't want to go to France, for one

If only you were right !

 

On 20/04/2017 at 5:00 AM, AGLV0121 said:

 

 second, France already has close to 11% of its population who are Muslims.

 but 65/70 % of prisoners and 100 % of terrorists are muslim.

[kmj]

45 minutes ago, llz said:

If only you were right !

 

 but 65/70 % of prisoners and 100 % of terrorists are muslim.

That's what you get with no research and only believing in bullshit news, see how many liberation and freedom terrorist are on the list of designated terrorist groups by national governments that are not muslim.

 

Hey but don't let the truth get in the way of your views...

 

 

[Retiredandhappyhere]

Opinion polls....Opinion polls.     Yes we all know what recent opinion polls have told us with Brexit and the US Presidential election.

 

Although probably unlikely (but who knows?),  Marine Le Pen might just bring off a shock win, bearing in mind that a significant proportion of the electorate in France still have not made up their minds (or prefer not to reveal their preference).

 

In that case, the EU would be in turmoil (again) and would have to be prepared to make some major concessions to France in order to avoid a possible Frexit, or at least their departure from the Euro.  Such concessions could provoke a domino effect, as could a Frexit, which could cause absolute chaos within the EU, leading to future disintegration further down the line.

 

These are not happy times for the European dream of a United States of Europe.

[John Drake]

Macron = business as usual. Everything fine with him as long as he and his globalist buddies line their pockets. Le Pen is necessary. Or France dies.

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

Macron = business as usual. Everything fine with him as long as he and his globalist buddies line their pockets. Le Pen is necessary. Or France dies.

Yes. France is in terrible shape.

https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/the-french-ourselves/

[Guest]

"Revealed: Marine Le Pen signed a 3,000,000€ loan with a Russian bank in June 2016. It's the third loan she's contracted with Russian banks."

 

 

[Guest]

 

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, oilinki said:

"Revealed: Marine Le Pen signed a 3,000,000€ loan with a Russian bank in June 2016. It's the third loan she's contracted with Russian banks."

 

 

History repeats itself and reminds me of Alastair Campbell - Blair's spin doctor.

 

Politicians are corrupt and only concerned with their own interests - no suprises there.

 

On the other hand, perhaps Le Pen really is determined that France should become part of Russia ?

Edited April 23, 2017 by dick dasterdly

[Dagnabbit]

"Revealed: Marine Le Pen signed a 3,000,000€ loan with a Russian bank in June 2016. It's the third loan she's contracted with Russian banks."
 
 

All political parties borrow money. Le Pen only turned to Russian banks because French banks shunned her.

The French banks dont want Le Pen. That's a point in her favour!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Dagnabbit said:

 

All political parties borrow money. Le Pen only turned to Russian banks because French banks shunned her.

The French banks dont want Le Pen. That's a point in her favour!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yup, funny that Russian banks were so willing to support her.

No, it's actually not funny at all. Spreading Russian propaganda must stop in Europe.

 

It's time for Europe to disintegrate Russia as an countermeasure. But to be honest we don't want to do that. We simply wish the low level strategist and thief of the country, president Putin gone, so that mother Russia can heal itself once again. 

Weak and without future Russia is no good for anyone. It's like North Korea with it's nutty leader. 

 

 

[citybiker]

Unsure if this has already been posted, however I think the likelihood is 'Macron & Fillion' will go through.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/the-four-likeliest-outcomes-of-today%e2%80%99s-french-election-and-what-they-mean-for-the-world/ar-BBAaHqk?li=BBoPWjQ

If Le Pen makes it through then the EU will certainly be drawing up a Battleplan.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[JHolmesJr]

Madam Le Pen is leading at the moment…go Marie….up the pollsters.

[Aforek]

8 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

Madam Le Pen is leading at the moment…go Marie….up the pollsters.

You loose; first estimations, Macron 23.7 %   , Le Pen  21.9 %  

 

Second round ( my estimation )   Macron 70 % , Le Pen 30 %  . Do you think French are so stupid to vote Le Pen ?  For twenty years French don't want far right, only foreigners think far right will win in France 

as a French guy , I am even disappointed that Le Pen will be in the second round, but at last, she will be defeated   

[citybiker]

You loose; first estimations, Macron 23.7 %   , Le Pen  21.9 %  
 
Second round ( my estimation )   Macron 70 % , Le Pen 30 %  . Do you think French are so stupid to vote Le Pen ?  For twenty years French don't want far right, only foreigners think far right will win in France 
as a French guy , I am even disappointed that Le Pen will be in the second round, but at last, she will be defeated   

Not all foreigners believe Le Pen would will get any further, coming 2nd out of 11 candidates shows plenty 'did' vote for alternative option & Le Pen herself has attempted to drag the party away from the 'extreme right image'.

Personally, it's Macron's to lose & the EU will breath a sigh of relief.....for now.

Congratulations to both Macron & Le Pen.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ballzafire]

"...The French banks dont want Le Pen."

You mean the House of Rothschild and The Globalists don't want Le Pen. It will be a serious setback to their One World plan.

I agree with the growing sentiment that unless she gets in, France is finished...

[Khun Han]

9 minutes ago, citybiker said:

 

Not all foreigners believe Le Pen would will get any further, coming 2nd out of 11 candidates shows plenty 'did' vote for alternative option & Le Pen herself has attempted to drag the party away from the 'extreme right image'.

Personally, it's Macron's to lose & the EU will breath a sigh of relief.....for now.

Congratulations to both Macron & Le Pen.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

The rise of the far right in the west is deeply disturbing but was entirely predictable: the liberal globalists, who have dominated western politics from the early noughties, have made a huge mess of crucial issues, treating populations, cultures and countries like commodities. And, to this day, refuse to acknowledge their mistakes, using the tried and trusted methods of politicians the world over of treating the masses as a stupid and malleable entity. The masses aren't so stupid anymore, and the far right offers them an outlet that should have been made available to them from the mainstream. We see from the the EU's ongoing uncaring and arrogant behaviour that the liberal globalists think that they can play the bigger game and ride roughshod over the masses to achieve their version of utopia controlled by elites.

[webfact]

France's Macron appears set for Elysee in runoff with Le Pen

By Ingrid Melander and Pascale Antonie

REUTERS

 

Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, waves hand during in the first round of 2017 French presidential election at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

 

PARIS (Reuters) - Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are set to face each other in a May 7 runoff for the French presidency after coming first and second in Sunday's first round of voting, according to multiple projections.

 

Full story: https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/979886-frances-macron-appears-set-for-elysee-in-runoff-with-le-pen/

 

[simple1]

59 minutes ago, ballzafire said:

"...The French banks dont want Le Pen."

You mean the House of Rothschild and The Globalists don't want Le Pen. It will be a serious setback to their One World plan.

I agree with the growing sentiment that unless she gets in, France is finished...

Here we go again with atypical Far Right anti Semitic ideology.

 

People who think the Far Right have changed in their quest for the destruction of democratic institutions in order to gain absolute power are delusional.

Edited April 23, 2017 by simple1

[heroKK]

Cultural Marxism has ruined Europe,  the French are idiots, Macron is hollande version 2.0 but more dangerous!, confirmation that the french are sheeple without brains !

 

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Albert Einstein

Edited April 23, 2017 by heroKK

[Khun Han]

25 minutes ago, simple1 said:

Here we go again with atypical Far Right anti Semitic ideology.

 

People who think the Far Right have changed in their quest for the destruction of democratic institutions in order to gain absolute power are delusional.

 

You're missing the point by a country mile. The far right are, bizarrely, providing an outlet for electorates that the mainstream have deserted in their eagerness to ride the globalist train.