Europe 1 with AFP 09:57, April 13, 2022

The UDI called on Tuesday to vote for Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential election against Marine Le Pen, assuring that nothing in the program of the RN candidate "resembles the values" of the party.

During the first round, the centrists had given their support to the LR candidate, Valérie Pécresse, who obtained 4.78% of the vote. 

The centrists of the UDI, supporters of candidate LR Valérie Pécresse, called on Tuesday to vote for outgoing President Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential election against Marine Le Pen.

The national office of the party chaired by deputy Jean-Christophe Lagarde adopted this position “unanimously”, according to a press release.

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The UDI wants "a very different mandate from the first rather than the risk of collapse that the far-right program carries".

"For the first time, the far-right candidate can win," alarmed the centrist party.

"Nothing in his program resembles our values ​​or the projects we are carrying", he added, listing "his positions on Europe", "his closeness to authoritarian regimes" or "his economic proposals demagogic".

"She has no team with the skills and experience to govern, even by allying with Eric Zemmour," added the party.

He invites Emmanuel Macron to "take France much more into account, which suffers from social inequalities and (the) lack of territorial equity".

"Vote without ambiguity Emmanuel Macron"

The UDI had given its support in January to the candidate LR Valérie Pécresse, eliminated in the first round with 4.78% of the votes cast.

Gathered at the end of the afternoon, the centrist senators, part of the senatorial majority, also called "to vote without ambiguity Emmanuel Macron on April 24".

For the Union Centriste group, "Marine Le Pen's economic, budgetary and European program is disastrous" and "her international meetings are dangerous".

"To face the very heavy challenges that await us, a balanced dialogue with Parliament, listening to intermediate bodies, a relationship of trust with local authorities must ensure the best conditions for a useful five-year term for France and the French" , said the centrist group in a press release.

The senators of the Les Indépendants group also called for a vote "without hesitation in favor of Emmanuel Macron".

"As senators, we will ensure that his project is done for the benefit of all French people to erase territorial and social fractures, and in favor of European construction," they said in a separate press release.