“It is time” for the outgoing president to declare himself, “because we are 40 days from the presidential election”, underlined on franceinfo the president of the Ile-de-France region.

Rejoicing that he is finally "returning to the campaign" to "confront the reality of the state of France", she believes "that he cannot today put himself above the people and not come in the arena to debate".

Calling for a televised debate with Emmanuel Macron, she added that, "given the very surprising nature of this campaign which will take place against a background of war, against a background of a pandemic, it is absolutely necessary that the President of the Republic accept this debate. because now he is a candidate and he must be accountable".

"We cannot promise for tomorrow the opposite of what we have done for five years", she criticized about the letter to the French published Thursday evening in many newspapers to announce the candidacy of the president.

“There was the Covid crisis but the Covid crisis did not prevent France from being governed. We had a totally authoritarian and solitary presidency, everything was managed from the Élysée, no trust was placed in the partners social, nor to local elected officials", she lamented, ensuring "to bring a real project of alternation to Emmanuel Macron, a project which will repair France".

Asked about her desire to "block the far right", she replied: "it has always been my DNA", while refusing to comment on her vote in the second round if she is not there.

She once again considered that "all candidates who have supported Vladimir Putin in any way whatsoever are disqualified, because they are under the influence of a foreign power, under the influence of a dictator who is waging war", targeting in particular the rivals on his right Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour.

The latest polls of voting intentions give the LR candidate in a range between 11% and 13%, between 3rd and 5th position, far behind Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.

© 2022 AFP