Final stretch for the two finalists in the French presidential election before the April 24 runoff: incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, two days before their highly anticipated televised face-off.
TF1 and France 2 are holding lengthy discussions with the teams of the presidential candidates to set the conditions for this face-to-face, a key moment in presidential elections, down to the last detail.
The result of the latest Ifop-Fiducial poll for LCI, Paris Match and Sud Radio, credits Emmanuel Macron with 55% of voting intentions in the second round of the presidential election, against 45% for Marine Le Pen.
Nothing is decided and, if the centrist president-candidate is still given as the winner, in a range of 53 to 55.5% against 44.5 to 47% for Marine Le Pen, he is not safe from a false step or a significant mobilization of the anti-Macron electorate.
A possible high abstention rate adds to the uncertainty of the second round when 26% of voters did not go to the polls last Sunday for the first round.
Wednesday’s televised debate could mark a turning point, as was the case five years ago in the same Macron-Le Pen debate, which the latter handled poorly. This time, the far-right candidate believes she is better prepared and says she is extremely serene.
For Emmanuel Macron, Wednesday’s debate will be a moment of clarification. On the form, the challenge is to be persuasive and convincing without taking an overly professorial tone, said his entourage.
Emmanuel Macron has targeted his opponent on a regal topic par excellence, the reform of institutions, posing as the guarantor of the law and respect for the Constitution, hoping to discredit Marine Le Pen.
