Emmanuel Macron holds first rally as France election race tightens
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday holds his first rally of the French election campaign, with far-right rival Marine Le Pen eating into what once seemed his unassailable lead barely a week ahead of the ballot.The centrist Macron threw his hat into the election ring at the last moment and has been distracted by the war in Ukraine, conducting diplomacy from the Elysee while Le Pen paces the country to discuss basic issues, including purchasing power. Macron's 1230 GMT rally before an expected crowd of 35,000 at the indoor La Defense Arena stadium, a vast venue that usually hosts top-level rugby and rock concerts, represents a pivotal chance for the president to regain momentum.He will make his appearance more "physical" than traditional rallies, according to his campaign team, requiring an "energetic presence" on stage. "Of course Marine Le Pen can win," Macron's former prime minister Edouard Philippe warned in an interview with the Le Parisien daily posted online Thursday.Philippe, who is backing Macron, added that "if she wins, believe me, things will be seriously different for the country... Her programme is dangerous.""We feel it on the ground, there is a great dynamic, a hope that is emerging as the campaign nears it end," she said on a visit to eastern France Friday. "What people said was the automatic re-election of Emmanuel Macron turned out to be fake news. It is perfectly possible to defeat Emmanuel Macron and radically change the politics of this country," she added.Her big chance to ignite her bid will be at a rally Sunday in southern Paris. But the Le Parisien daily reported that Sarkozy, whose support is still coveted by the right despite criminal convictions, would be staying away in a major snub to her campaign. The left's main hope is the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon who most polls project coming in third place but believes he has a chance of making a run-off.Melenchon, an explosive orator, will address an open air meeting in Place du Capitole in centre of the southern French city of Toulouse on Sunday.