According to a new survey released on Saturday, French voters are more inclined to choose incumbent President Emmanuel Macron than challenger Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election next weekend.
According to an Ipsos-Sopra Steria poll, Macron has the support of approximately 55.5 percent of respondents. Marine Le Pen might receive 44.5 percent of the vote in the runoff, with voter turnout estimated to reach 72 percent. The margin of error, according to the French researchers, is between 0.7 and 2.4 percentage points.
As the campaign neared its conclusion, President Macron took efforts to underline that "nothing is settled" in his battle with Le Pen and urged voters to vote.
"The far-right is a danger to our country," he warned supporters at a rally in Marseille on Saturday. "Don't yell at them! Defeat them!"
On Saturday, Le Pen also went to an antiques market in the northeastern commune of Saint-Remy-sur-Avre to meet with voters. The 52-year-old has promised to govern France "like a mother, with common sense" and to protect disadvantaged groups.
Macron received 27.6 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election last weekend, compared to Le Pen's 23.4 percent. Hard-left contender Jean-Luc Melenchon was not far behind, garnering 22.2 percent of the vote overall and leading the field among voters aged 18 to 34, surpassing Le Pen.
Macron appeared to appeal to younger people while visiting Melenchon's stronghold city of Marseille, presenting the issue as the "fight of the century" and the impending vote as a "referendum for or against ecology."
His words follow Le Pen's commitment to halt wind and solar power subsidies, as well as to close wind farms, which she branded as "horrors that cost us a fortune."
Macron also stated that his future prime minister will be in charge of "ecological planning" to ensure that France achieves carbon neutrality by 2050.
While Macron was speaking in Marseille, the Extinction Rebellion was protesting in Paris, blocking vital routes to draw attention to what they describe as French officials' "inaction."
According to the Ipsos-Sopra Steria poll, more than half of Melenchon's supporters do not have a preferred candidate in the runoff. According to a poll sponsored by France Info radio and Le Parisien daily, those who do are more inclined to vote for Macron (33%) than Le Pen (16%).
Macron already has the support of his predecessors, the center-right Nicolas Sarkozy and the Socialist Francois Hollande. However, Macron's moderate, pro-business stance is unpopular among leftists.
On Friday, the party publicly declared their stance with a slogan: "We all want to say 'merde' but we have to vote Macron."
Macron is also likely to get the backing of leftist activists who see nationalist Le Pen as a danger to democracy and liberalism.
Thousands of protestors marched against Le Pen across the country on Saturday, including in Paris, where one sign read: "Against the far-right. Not Le Pen at the Elysee for justice and equality."
The rallies, according to Le Pen, were "very undemocratic," with inpiduals "protesting against electoral results."
"I tell all of these inpiduals to go vote. That's all there is to it."
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