Off the wire
• China, Japan senior diplomats exchange views at regular meeting  • DPRK calls South Korean security report "fig leaf" to cover up inferiority  • SPP to increase supervision of local police stations  • Top news items in major Zambian media outlets  • Match fixing scandal shocks Spanish football  • Ford to recall Lincoln Continental, Lincoln MKX cars in China  • Afghan forces kill 9 IS militants  • China braces for rail travel rush as holiday ends  • Iraq's Kirkuk province in favor of referendum to decide fate  • Spotlight: Turkey ends Syria operation without achieving tangible targets  
You are here: 　 Home

Macron, Le Pen neck-and-neck in first round of French presidential election: poll

Xinhua, April 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

A survey released on Tuesday suggested independent presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and leader of the far-right National Front party Marine Le Pen were neck-and-neck in the first round of French presidential race.

A poll for the daily Le Monde showed the pro-liberal market Macron and nationalism advocate Le Pen tied at 25 percent of voting intentions on April 23.

Conservative contender Francois Fillon, struggling to regain steam after his wife's alleged fake job scandal, was seen at third place with 17.5 percent unchanged from March survey. Far-left nominee Jean-Luc Melenchon was predicted to garner 15 percent, up by 3.5 percentage points.

For the decisive round in May 7, Macron would beat Le Pen by 61 percent to 39 percent, according to the survey.

With three weeks to go for the presidential election, 64 percent of 14,300 people interviewed said they were certain of their decision, up by 5 percentage points from last survey, with Le Pen supporters most sure of their choice.

Eleven candidates are competing for the presidency. They are due to face-off in a televised debate on Tuesday evening. Endit