Marine Le Pen ‘will bring CHAOS’: Francois Fillon backs Emmanuel Macron
MARINE Le Pen will bring chaos, misery and division to France if she wins, defeated presidential candidate Francois Fillon has declared.
Fillon condemns French National Front as he concedes defeat
The former prime minister threw his weight behind Emmanuel Macron as he rallied to lead a united front against Marine Le Pen.
Ms Le Pen, the leader of the Front National, will go head to head in the second round on Sunday May 7 after securing 21.4 per cent of the votes against Mr Macron’s 23.9 per cent, with 96 per cent of votes counted.
Mr Fillon said: “The National Front, the party created by Jean-Marie Le Pen, has a history known for its violence, its intolerance.
Extremism can bring only misery and division to France. So, there is no option but to vote against the extreme right I will, therefore, vote for Emmanuel Macron
“Its economic and social program would lead France to bankruptcy and, to that chaos, you would have to add the European chaos of exiting from the euro.
“I assure you: Extremism can bring only misery and division to France. So, there is no option but to vote against the extreme right I will, therefore, vote for Emmanuel Macron.”
The former prime minister is the most significant figure to back Mr Macron as he urged the French to think about their children’s future as an “extremist party approaches power".
Marine Le Pen will bring chaos, says Francois Fillon
Marine Le Pen will go head to head in the second round with Emmanuel Macron
Mr Fillon was seen as the next president until he was hit in January by allegations that his wife had been paid from the public purse for work she did not do.
He fell out of the first round with 19.9 per cent of the vote.
Defeated socialist candidate Benoit Hamon and socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve echoed Mr Fillon’s calls to support Mr Macron.
Emmanuel Macron is expected to win the second round
Mr Macron, a pro-EU former finance minister, has support from Berlin and Brussels
The 39-year-old, a pro-EU ex-banker and former economy minister who founded his own party only a year ago, also has support from Berlin and Brussels.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman hailed Mr Macron's success, tweeting: "Good that @EmmanuelMacron succeeded with his policy for a strong EU and social market economy. Wishing him all the best for the next two weeks."
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker expressed similar good wishes for the second round, his spokesman said in Brussels.
In a victory speech, Macron told supporters of his fledgling En Marche! (Onwards!) movement: "In one year, we have changed the face of French politics."
He went on to say he would bring in new faces and talent to transform a stale political system if elected.
New opinion polls suggest Mr Macron will easily beat Ms Le Pen in the second round.
A Harris survey taken on Sunday saw the En Marche leader winning the runoff by 64 per cent to 36, and an Ipsos/Sopra Steria poll gave a similar result.