The finalist at the Elysee Palace in 2017, given in second position in the polls behind Emmanuel Macron in the first round, has at this stage obtained only 366 sponsorships, ten days before the deadline for submitting signatures.

Marine Le Pen had launched Monday "an appeal to the mayors" to sponsor her: "if you do not help me, millions of voters will be deprived of an election", she had warned in a video posted on her Twitter account.

The Constitutional Council, which will publish this Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. and Thursday updated lists of sponsorships, has set March 4 as the deadline to collect 500 signatures, in at least 30 departments.

As a direct consequence of Ms. Le Pen's campaign suspension, a press conference scheduled for Wednesday in Paris on education "is postponed", as is a trip to the Somme which was to take place on Saturday, said the candidate's entourage. of the RN.

Marine Le Pen is not the only presidential candidate to have difficulty obtaining the 500 sponsorships, a subject that has become a major concern of the campaign: her far-right rival Eric Zemmour (291 sponsorships) had to cancel a trip planned this week to Reunion to devote himself to calling elected officials.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), also given more than 10% in the voting intentions in the first round, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Debout La France), Christiane Taubira or even Hélène Thouy (Parti animaliste) and Philippe Poutou (NPA) , are also quite far from the 500 signatures required.

The ecologist Yannick Jadot could validate his 500 sponsorships during the next update of the list by the Constitutional Council on Tuesday.

Faced with the difficulties of the main candidates, more than 120 mayors responded to the initiative of the president of the MoDem François Bayrou to create a "bank" of sponsorships to enable them to obtain the 500 signatures, he indicated on Europe on Tuesday. 1.

For the moment, only LR Valérie Pécresse, outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, who is not yet a formal candidate, socialist Anne Hidalgo, communist Fabien Roussel, Jean Lassalle and Nathalie Arthaud (LO) have obtained them, subject to final validation of their candidacy by the Constitutional Council.

No candidate well placed in the polls has ever failed to collect them during a presidential election

© 2022 AFP