Prez Macron seen winning upcoming French presidential runoff

Macron’s rival, the leader of the right-wing National Rally party, Marine Le Pen is expected to receive 46.5%.

Incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron could win the second round of the presidential election with 53.5% of the vote, according to an Elabe poll for French media, released on Thursday.

French President and liberal party La Republique en Marche (LREM) candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron (C) addresses employees of the Siemens Gamesa wind turbines factory during his campaign visit in Le Havre, western France.(AFP)

Macron’s rival, the leader of the right-wing National Rally party, Marine Le Pen is expected to receive 46.5%. At the same time, the latest Elabe poll from Sunday predicted that Macron’s result would be 52% against 48% for Le Pen respectively.

According to the poll, 63% of the respondents are “sure they will go to vote” and 10% are “serious about going to vote.”

The survey was conducted online among 1,627 French people over 18 years old on Tuesday and Wednesday with a margin of error from 1.1 % to 3.1%.

On Sunday, France held the first round of the presidential election. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron received 27.84% of the vote and Le Pen 23.15%, and they will face one another again in a second round on April 24.

Le Pen warned Wednesday against sending any more weapons to Ukraine, and called for a rapprochement between Nato and Russia once Moscow’s war in Ukraine winds down.

Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist who has long ties to Russia, also confirmed that if she unseats President Emmanuel Macron in France’s April 24 presidential runoff, she will pull France out of Nato’s military command and dial back French support for the European Union.

Macron, a pro-EU centrist, is facing a harder-than-expected fight to stay in power, in part because the economic impact of the war is hitting poor households the hardest. France’s European partners are worried that a possible Le Pen presidency could undermine Western unity as the U.S. and Europe seek to support Ukraine and end Russia’s ruinous war on its neighbor.

Asked about military aid to Ukraine, Le Pen said she would continue defence and intelligence support. “(But) I’m more reserved about direct arms deliveries. Why? Because ... the line is thin between aid and becoming a co-belligerent,” the far-right leader said, citing concerns about an “escalation of this conflict that could bring a whole number of countries into a military commitment.”