Emmanuel Macron is closer to winning another term at the helm of the European Union's second-largest economy as nationalist leader Marine Le Pen runs out of time to narrow the gap between them before the presidential runoff ballot on Sunday.
Both candidates are holding their last rallies in areas where they came out on top in the first round two weeks ago — Le Pen chose the northern Hauts-de-France region. Macron is in the southern town of Figeac.
The gap between the two of them has widened since April 10 to about 12 percentage points, as Le Pen’s weaknesses on the economy became more apparent and politicians on the left and right rallied around Macron. He is also benefiting from his stature of experienced statesman amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.