French far-right veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen said on Tuesday his daughter Marine, who faces centrist Emmanuel Macron in a May 7, 2017 presidential run-off, should have campaigned more aggressively for Sunday's first round, following the example of Donald Trump.
The independent centrist's qualification on Sunday for the run-off of France's presidential election in two weeks' time will certainly bring a sigh of relief in European capitals and financial markets, as opinion polls suggest he will beat his far-right rival Marine Le Pen easily.
"This evening I'm no longer the president of the National Front, I am a candidate for the presidency of France", Le Pen told French television channel France 2. As a candidate, Le Pen has promised to strictly limit immigration, leave the European Union, establish a national currency, and ban public expressions of religion.
Hollande, a Socialist nearing the end of five years of unpopular rule, threw his weight behind his former economy minister in a televised address, saying Le Pen's policies were divisive and stigmatised sections of the population.
The strong showing for Macron comes from the left wing vote; 93 per cent of those who backed Socialist party candidate Benoit Hamon and 77 per cent of those who voted for far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon have thrown their support behind Macron.
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Maduro said on Sunday he wouldn't give in to opponents and again urged them rejoin negotiations they broke off last December. Eleven people died that day alone. "We will not rest until we capture those responsible for this repugnant crime", he added.
France's centre-right party, seeking to rebound after the defeat of its presidential candidate, said on Wednesday it could share power with Emmanuel Macron if he is elected, as pollsters predict, on May 7.
Under France's Fifth Republic, the president is the head of state, very much like a monarch in other countries, a role described by founder Charles De Gaulle as being above party politics.
Le Pen holds out a still starker comparison, saying French voters will be making a choice between "uncontrolled globalization and the nation". "I am only the candidate for the presidency".
"The younger generation want something new, maybe Melenchon is too radical but we are stuck with politicians who do nothing", she said, adding that she thought Le Pen had little chance of winning. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wished Macron "all the best for the next two weeks". "Patriots should come together to fight those who promote unbridled globalisation", she said.
However, it is expected she will resume her position as leader as "the French term she used signalled that the move to step aside would be temporary", the BBC says.
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