{"id":315726,"date":"2017-05-01T12:55:33","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T12:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=315726"},"modified":"2017-05-01T12:55:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T12:55:33","slug":"france-election-le-pen-attacks-macron-as-candidate-of-continuity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/france-election-le-pen-attacks-macron-as-candidate-of-continuity\/","title":{"rendered":"France election: Le Pen attacks Macron as ‘candidate of continuity’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has accused her pro-EU centrist rival Emmanuel Macron of being the “candidate of continuity”.<\/p>\n
She linked Mr Macron to the unpopular current President, Francois Hollande, in whose cabinet he once served.<\/p>\n
Mr Macron, who holds a rally later, earlier told the BBC the EU must reform or face the prospect of “Frexit”.<\/p>\n
He is currently 20 percentage points ahead of Ms Le Pen in the polls ahead of Sunday’s second round of voting.<\/p>\n
France is on high alert as traditional May Day protests, on the left and the right, get under way.<\/p>\n
Although five big unions have urged their members not to vote for National Front (FN) leader Ms Le Pen, only two have expressed their support for Mr Macron.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Ms Le Pen’s estranged 88-year-old father and the founder of the FN was at a rally by the statue of Joan of Arc, a long-time symbol of patriotism for the FN.<\/p>\n
This is where Jean-Marie Le Pen traditionally held his May Day rallies but this year’s event was attended by only a couple of hundred of the party’s old guard, the BBC’s Hugh Schofield reports.<\/p>\n