Exactly a fortnight before voting in the first round of France's presidential election, the main candidates were all over the media or holding rallies -- except one.
Here's what happened in the campaign on Saturday:
- Le Pen denies collaboration -
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen denied that the French state was responsible for rounding up Jews at the Vel d'Hiv cycling track in Paris during World War II who were then sent to death camps in Nazi Germany.
Former President Jacques Chirac and current leader Francois Hollande have both apologised for the role French police played in the round-up which was ordered by Nazi officers in 1942.
"I don't think France is responsible for the Vel d'Hiv," she said on the LCI television channel. "I think that generally speaking if there are people responsible, it's those who were in power at the time. It's not France."
- Surname slurs -
Scandal-hit rightwinger Francois Fillon has taken to calling centrist frontrunner Emmanuel Macron "Emmanuel Hollande" in an attempt to associate him with unpopular President Francois Hollande.
Macron hit back on Sunday, saying he could call Fillon "Francois Balkany" -- a reference to Patrick Balkany, a deputy mayor from Fillon's party who has made headlines recently for allegedly hiding holiday homes from tax authorities.
Fillon has been charged with misusing public money after paying his wife hundreds of thousands of euros for a fake job as a parliamentary assistant. He denies the charges.
- Peacemaker? -
As well as trying to present himself as a genuine alternative to the far-right and free-market candidates Fillon and Macron, Communist-backed leftwinger Jean-Luc Melenchon also pitched himself as the candidate for peace on Sunday.
Appearing in front of tens of thousands of supporters in sunny Marseille, he wore an olive branch in his jacket's buttonhole and repeated the word throughout his speech.
"If you want peace, don't make a mistake with your ballot paper," he said.
- Picnic maker -
With his rivals dominating the airwaves or holding meetings, beleaguered Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon was nowhere to be seen despite new polls showing support for him falling further into single figures.
The former education minister organised a low-key picnic to meet voters in a town outside of Paris in the Yvelines region, which he represents in parliament.
"Thank you to everyone for this beautiful day we shared in the sunshine," he wrote on Twitter.
Exactly a fortnight before voting in the first round of France’s presidential election, the main candidates were all over the media or holding rallies — except one.
Here’s what happened in the campaign on Saturday:
– Le Pen denies collaboration –
Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen denied that the French state was responsible for rounding up Jews at the Vel d’Hiv cycling track in Paris during World War II who were then sent to death camps in Nazi Germany.
Former President Jacques Chirac and current leader Francois Hollande have both apologised for the role French police played in the round-up which was ordered by Nazi officers in 1942.
“I don’t think France is responsible for the Vel d’Hiv,” she said on the LCI television channel. “I think that generally speaking if there are people responsible, it’s those who were in power at the time. It’s not France.”
– Surname slurs –
Scandal-hit rightwinger Francois Fillon has taken to calling centrist frontrunner Emmanuel Macron “Emmanuel Hollande” in an attempt to associate him with unpopular President Francois Hollande.
Macron hit back on Sunday, saying he could call Fillon “Francois Balkany” — a reference to Patrick Balkany, a deputy mayor from Fillon’s party who has made headlines recently for allegedly hiding holiday homes from tax authorities.
Fillon has been charged with misusing public money after paying his wife hundreds of thousands of euros for a fake job as a parliamentary assistant. He denies the charges.
– Peacemaker? –
As well as trying to present himself as a genuine alternative to the far-right and free-market candidates Fillon and Macron, Communist-backed leftwinger Jean-Luc Melenchon also pitched himself as the candidate for peace on Sunday.
Appearing in front of tens of thousands of supporters in sunny Marseille, he wore an olive branch in his jacket’s buttonhole and repeated the word throughout his speech.
“If you want peace, don’t make a mistake with your ballot paper,” he said.
– Picnic maker –
With his rivals dominating the airwaves or holding meetings, beleaguered Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon was nowhere to be seen despite new polls showing support for him falling further into single figures.
The former education minister organised a low-key picnic to meet voters in a town outside of Paris in the Yvelines region, which he represents in parliament.
“Thank you to everyone for this beautiful day we shared in the sunshine,” he wrote on Twitter.
