Ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy endorsed Emmanuel Macron’s reelection campaign on Tuesday, citing Macron’s expertise in dealing with the “severe international situation” in Ukraine as an example of his leadership qualities. Even though Marine Le Pen, the far-right contender, professes a strong anti-European sentiment, she has maintained she has no intention of pulling France out of the EU.
Polls indicate a considerably closer race between Le Pen and Macron in the second round of France’s presidential election, which takes place on April 24. On Tuesday, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that he will be voting for incumbent Emmanuel Macron.
In a Facebook post, Sarkozy said, “I will vote for Mr. Emmanuel Macron because I believe he has the essential expertise in the face of a major world situation.”
“[Macron’s] economic project places the importance of labor as the top priority and his commitment to Europe is obvious and unequivocal,” he said.. “We need to get rid of our political tendencies” (…). We must respond to Emmanuel Macron’s call for unity because of our commitment to right-wing republican ideals and our governing culture.”
Sarkozy’s remarks came only days after the conservative Les Républicains candidate he had declined to officially back lost in the first round of the election to an embarrassment. Just 4.8 percent of the vote was cast for Valérie Pecresse on Sunday, a whopping 15 points less than the party’s result under scandal-plagued candidate François Fillon five years earlier.
Les Républicains are in deep trouble as a result of Pécresse’s humiliation, since the party fell short of the 5 percent threshold needed to be paid for its election campaign expenses. After racking up campaign debts of €5 million ($5.5 million), Pécresse launched an urgent appeal for funds on Monday to keep her party alive.
However, Macron enjoys the support of the majority of the other first-round candidates, including Le Pen’s extreme right challengers Éric Zemmour and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.