A senior Socialist minister said on Tuesday he might back centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's presidential election, a new setback for the Socialists' official candidate Benoit Hamon, whose talks aimed at unifying the left are going nowhere.
A senior Socialist minister said on Tuesday he might back centrist Emmanuel Macron in France's presidential election, a new setback for the Socialists' official candidate Benoit Hamon, whose talks aimed at unifying the left are going nowhere.
Hamon, elected as candidate in a Socialist Party primary in January, has been struggling to make an impact on the two-stage election set for April 23 and May 7.
He is pushing a hard-left programme that appears to be increasing divisions within the party, and which competes for votes with another leftist, Communist-backed Jean-Luc Melenchon.
Agriculture minister and government spokesman Stephane Le Foll became the second minister to suggest he might defect to Macron, currently the pollsters favourite to win a face-off second round of voting against far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen on May 7.
Conservative Francois Fillon, whose campaign has been hit by scandal over payments of state funds to his wife and children, is close behind Macron and set to take third place in the first round, according to daily opinion polls. Hamon and Melenchon trail in fourth and fifth place respectively.
"I support the man who has been chosen (by the Socialists), but the moment comes when political responsibility with regard to what is at play, with regard to Marine Le Pen and with regard also to the programme of Francois Fillon," Le Foll said on BFM TV.
Asked whether this meant his backing would depend on who was best placed to prevent a Le Pen versus Fillon runoff, he said: "Exactly!"
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, No 2 in the cabinet rankings, said on Sunday he had not decided which way he would vote and was waiting to see Macron's programme.
LEFT TALKS FOUNDER
Last week, Melenchon, a veteran campaigner who can count on a core support of around 12 percent of the first round vote, and Hamon said they were talking about cooperation.
But the discussions were tentative from the start. In the days since, both have acknowledged that wide policy differences stop the talks going anywhere.
Hamon on Tuesday gave the latest indication they were unlikely to be joining forces.
"There is a desire on Melenchon's part to go on right to the end," Hamon said on Europe 1 radio. "I respect that...In any case, I will work on right to the end."
Melenchon said on Friday: "I have no intention of going and hitching myself to a hearse." Hamon hit back on Saturday with "I won't run after Jean-Luc Melenchon. I don't run after anyone."
News of the talks raised investor worries about a hard-left, hard-right choice in the second round last week, but these have since subsided.
The premium investors demand to hold French bonds instead of German debt fell slightly on Tuesday from Monday's near four-year high. The spread was last at 78 basis points, after widening out to as much as 85 bps on Monday,.
GREENS PACT
Looking to put a brave face on his prospects on Tuesday, Hamon hailed a likely electoral pact with the tiny green party under which candidate Yannick Jadot could withdraw his candidacy and join forces with Hamon in the election.
"I am confident and optimistic that we can reach an agreement by the end of this week," Hamon said on radio Europe 1.
Jadot, who is expected to gather only about 2 percent of the vote in the first round, said on France 2 television that there would be a decision on a possible alliance this week and that a clear agreement about a switch to renewable energy would be a precondition for that.
Macron was due to be campaigning in London, home to a large expatriate French community, on Tuesday.
Anti-immigration, anti-European Union Le Pen meanwhile caused controversy on a trip to Lebanon where her plans to meet a senior Muslim figure were cancelled after her refusal to wear a headscarf.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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