France's Le Pen wants runoff against 'centrist' in presidential race

The far-right National Rally (RN) party is banking on its best chance yet at winning power in 2027, when centrist President Emmanuel Macron steps down after two consecutive terms in office.

Le Pen is hoping to be her anti-immigration, Eurosceptic party's candidate if an appeals court in July does not ban her from office over an alleged fake jobs scam in European Parliament.

"If the judges don't stop me, I will run," she said.

If she cannot, her lieutenant -- 30-year-old party leader Jordan Bardella -- will vie for the top job instead.

"The presidential election will almost certainly be decided between the National Rally and the centrist bloc, if they manage to agree on a single candidate," Le Pen said.

She implied she wanted this to ensure legitimacy in the case her party won.

"It will be necessary to have the strength of a vote in favour of a chosen candidate -- not one cast merely to reject the other candidate," she said.

The centrist camp's main contender so far seems to be former premier Edouard Philippe, the leader of the Horizons party who was re-elected as mayor of the northern port city of Le Havre last month.

Some believe Jean-Luc Melenchon, the firebrand leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, could manage to reach the second round for the first time if the centrist vote were split between several candidates.

"There is a real risk that Melenchon has a more solid base than the central bloc," she said.

The far right has especially sought to demonise the hard left after the fatal beating in February of a far-right activist in the city of Lyon that has been blamed on the hard left.

Le Pen has sought to distance the RN from the antisemitic legacy of her father, and has accused LFI of antisemitic comments in the context of the Gaza war.

Melenchon came in fourth in the 2012 and 2017 elections, and third in the last polls in 2022.

Le Pen came third in 2012, then twice made the runoffs.

gbh/ah/cw