Disgraced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has become the latest establishment figure to back Emmanuel Macron in his re-election bid against populist Marine Le Pen.
Sarkozy, who ruled the French Republic between 2007 and 2012 for the centre-right Les Républicains (LR) party, said on Tuesday that President Macron “is, as things stand, the only one in a position to act”.
“The importance of future decisions forces me to leave my reserve to clearly indicate what my vote will be. I will vote for Emmanuel Macron,” he said.
Explaining his decision, Sarkozy — who has been convicted of corruption, influence peddling, and campaign finance violations — said that he believes Macron has the “necessary experience” to deal with the “international crisis” in Ukraine.
Sarkozy went on to praise the globalist president’s economic record and for his “clear and unambiguous” commitment to the European project.
“A new era is coming,” Sarkozy declared, saying: “It will require profound changes. We will have to get out of partisan habits and reflexes.”
Sarkozy’s decision to back the ex-Rothschild banker in his re-election bid had been rumoured for weeks, as he had failed to endorse his own party’s candidate Valérie Pécresse, who only managed to secure 4.8 per cent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election.
Following her defeat, Pécresse, the establishment right candidate, announced that while she had “strong disagreements” with Macron, she would also be throwing her support behind him “in order to stop” populist right-wing Marine Le Pen, who won 23.4 per cent of the vote in the first round compared to Macron’s 27.6 per cent.
The second round of the presidential election will be held on Sunday, April 24th when Le Pen and Macron will face off in a head to head competition in a repeat of the 2017 election in which Macron came to power.
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