French candidates back on the trail before Sunday’s presidential vote

World Today

France’s presidential election is turning increasingly fractious.

Just hours after a hostile TV debate, prosecutors opened an inquiry into allegations that far right candidate Marine Le Pen defamed her centrist opponent Emmanuel Macron.

CGTN’s Owen Fairclough reports.

The two are battling each other for a decisive second-round run-off this weekend.

Marine Le Pen pelted with eggs in Brittany with protesters changing “Out with fascists.”

The leader of the far-right National Front was back on the campaign trail just hours after an ugly TV debate – the culmination of one of the most compelling elections in French history

Now judicial authorities are investigating complaints Le Pen smeared her centrist opponent Emmanuel Macron with fake online reports that he’s a tax dodger.

Their worldviews sharply clash: Macron for borders open to immigration and free trade which are central pillars of European Union membership while Le Pen against them.

Voters must decide which to follow. And who gets to shape these very different visions of France and the future of the European Union it co-founded will be decided on Sunday.