France’s new corruption scandals favour Le Pen

“The French presidential candidate, Le Pen, has managed to create a stir since putting herself forward and vocalizing her desire for a Frexit”, said Fiona Cincotta, market analyst City Index, in a note. In her platform, Le Pen envisioned a thriving nation “made in France”, with its citizens first in line for state services and the state unshackled by the rules-laden European Union.

The poll points towards Macron taking a strong lead in the second round of voting on 7 May – although with another three months to go and the unpredictability of western elections over the past year, he certainly shouldn’t be celebrating just yet.

He is seen beating far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the second round of the French presidential election run-off, with Mr Macron’s score edging up, an Opinionway poll said yesterday.

“I think the situation is awful these days”, Le Pen said told Times of Israel in October.

He opined that Le Pen stands no chance of becoming the president in 2017, but she may be elected in the next election in 2025.

Running “in the name of the people”, Ms Le Pen reaffirmed the FN’s anti-immigration, protectionist, anti-European Union and populist stance.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also from Fillon’s Republican party, is to go on trial for election financing irregularities. If the bloc refused to accept large-scale reforms, she pledged to call a referendum on membership within six months of taking office.

The FN’s influential deputy leader Florian Philippot insisted that the momentum was with Le Pen and not the fast-rising Macron.

He told the crowd that France is blocked by old-party politics, and he will remake the country. “They see Brexit, they see Trump and they’re saying to themselves: ‘It’s worth going to vote'”.

A French MP has claimed that the favourite to become France’s next President is a secret puppet of the “rich gay lobby”.

The independent former banker, Emmanuel Macron, was also in Lyon this weekend, with a radically different vision for France: pro-Europe and pro-free trade.

A poll published by Ifop in July a year ago found that 67 percent of French voters who expressed a view would vote to stay in the EU. He is now predicted to make the second round runoff against Marine Le Pen, but we are a long way from the finish line and somehow Fillon has survived to stay in the race.

The Socialist Party recently chose radical leftist Benoit Hamon as its candidate.

It’s hard to feel optimistic about the future of France when considering the current slate of candidates for the presidential election this spring.

The joke was a reference to left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who launched his presidential campaign in Lyon on Sunday – and appeared at a Paris rally simultaneously thanks to a 3D hologram.