The prospect that France may soon elect its first president from outside an established party in nearly a century is fuelling concern about potential political instability, reports The Telegraph.
Opponents of Emmanuel Macron, the independent who has emerged as the surprise frontrunner in the country’s most unpredictable election in decades, claim he would struggle to govern because he would be unlikely to muster a parliamentary majority.
Flanked by supporters waving tricolour flags at a rally in Marseille on Saturday, Mr Macron, 39, a fresh-faced former investment banker who has never held elected office and would be the youngest president in modern French history, sought to appeal to conservative voters.
Describing himself as a “patriot”, he stressed that he would cut taxes, take a tough line on terrorism and plough more than £4 billion into helping France’s struggling farmers.
He will need conservative backing to defeat Marine Le Pen, the Front National leader. Polls show the mainstream Republican and Socialist candidates face being eliminated in the first round of the election in three weeks’ time, leaving the two outsiders facing each other in the final showdown in May.
Mr Macron will trounce Ms Le Pen, according to the polls, but only if voters unite against the far-Right.
Supporters of the conservative candidate, François Fillon, the former favourite who has been undermined by corruption allegations, argue that if elected, Mr Macron would be forced to rely on fickle support from moderate Socialists and the centre-Right.
Despite the extensive powers invested in the French presidency by Charles de Gaulle in 1958 following the collapse of a series of weak governments, Mr Macron’s ambitious centrist programme of business-friendly reforms could be blocked by a fragmented or hostile parliament.
Mr Fillon and Ms Le Pen accuse Mr Macron of being heir to the unpopular president, François Hollande, because he is backed by several leading top leading Socialists.
But Mr Macron told a crowd of thousands: “I am the heir of your energy, of your yearning for change.”