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Macron adds green to his manifesto to attract left-wing voters The French leader holds a rally in Marseille where the left came first Macron is committed to emphasizing nuclear energy, to creating the day of nature
MARSEILLE, France, April 16 (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Saturday to make France the “first great nation” to stop using oil, coal and gas as energy sources, in a proposal for young and green voters. who fears they could miss the second round of elections next week. At a rally in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, which voted overwhelmingly in favor of left-wing supporter Jean-Luc Melanson in the first round of voting, Macron sought to broaden what polls show as a small lead over Marin’s far-right rival. . In the run-up to the second round on April 24, the presidential race is being held on the left, with both candidates attracting voters who elected Melanson in the first round last Sunday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Macron said he would put his next prime minister directly responsible for what he called “green planning”, calling on left-wing voters to nostalgia for post-communist communist central planning while addressing 21st century concerns about climate change. “I have heard the concern among our young people,” Macron told supporters waving flags in a park overlooking the Old Port in Marseille, France’s second city. “This prime minister’s mission will be to make France the first great nation to give up gas, oil and coal. It is possible, and we will do it,” Macron said. “Between coal and gas on the one hand and nuclear on the other, I choose nuclear.” The president wants to build six new nuclear reactors and start studies for another eight, increase solar capacity tenfold and build 50 offshore wind farms by the middle of the century. It also wants to insulate 700,000 homes a year to save energy. Macron, a centrist, also said he wanted to create a national nature day in May each year. He accused Lepen of being a “climate skeptic”. Melanson came in third on April 10 with more than 21% of the vote, and as both runners-up seek to win over his supporters, Le Pen is turning to the more hard-working, rural part of the electorate, focusing on the cost of living, rising food costs and high gasoline prices after the war in Ukraine. Macron, meanwhile, is trying to attract the more educated, center-left and bourgeois sections of Melanson’s supporters. A poll by Ipsos on Saturday found that 33% of Melanson’s voters planned to vote for Macron, 16% for Lepen and 51% were undecided. Thousands of anti-far right protesters marched across the country on Saturday as Le Pen’s opponents tried to form a united front to prevent it from winning the second round. read more In Marseille, Mehdi Sam, a 25-year-old computer engineer and left-wing voter, said he was interested in Macron’s environmental program, but added that his father, who voted for Melenchon in the first round, planned to abstain in the second round. “I think it’s wrong. I can understand that not everything suits him (in Macron) … but we forget what is on the other side: a camp that is extreme, with very negative values and is not the France I want for tomorrow, ” he said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Michel Rose Editing by Frances Kerry Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
