Politics

French presidential campaign kicks off in shadow of Ukraine war

Paris, Mar 28 (EFE).- Campaigning for the French presidential elections officially got underway Monday in the shadow of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine as incumbent Emmanuel Macron tries to secure a second term in office.

A total of 12 candidates will go head-to-head in the first rounding of voting on April 10. If no candidate secures a majority – the most likely outcome – a second round will see the two top candidates face off for a second ballot on April 24.

According to a survey published over the weekend by Le Parisien newspaper, Macron leads the polls with a predicted 28.5% of the vote, followed by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen with 17.5%.

Trailing the two heavyweights are left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, conservative Valerie Pecresse, the Paris mayor and socialist Anne Hidalgo and the far-right Eric Zemmour.

Macron is due to kick-start his campaign Monday with a visit to the city of Dijon, eastern France, ahead of a Paris rally on Saturday at La Défense Arena, which has a capacity of 30,000.EFE

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