PARIS _ Emmanuel Macron solidified his position as the front-runner in the French presidential election, picking up a key endorsement as Francois Fillon's legal woes continued.
Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he'll vote for Macron in the first round on April 23, instead of his own Socialist Party's candidate. Valls said the 39-year-old independent is best-placed to stop Marine Le Pen and her bid to take France out of the euro.
With just over three weeks before the first round of voting, polls show Macron and Le Pen are most likely to qualify for the May 7 runoff while voters look set to eliminate both the main parties' candidates for the first time since France began directly electing its presidents 50 years ago.
"One must not take any risks with the Republic," Valls said in an interview with RMC radio. "Therefore I'll vote for Emmanuel Macron. The interests of France are above that of the rules of any party or primary." He said he feared Le Pen's support is under-reported by polls.
The Republican Fillon had been the establishment favorite to beat Le Pen before newspaper reports in late January led to criminal charges over his wife's employment as a parliamentary aide. Penelope Fillon was on the public payroll for more than a decade even though other aides couldn't recall ever seeing her at work. She was also charged late Tuesday.
'SOAP OPERA'
While that development doesn't change Fillon's legal status, it does increase the pressure he would face in the unlikely event of him winning the election. While Fillon himself would enjoy immunity from prosecution for the duration of his presidency, the prosecution of his wife, and the public scrutiny of his affairs, could continue. Fillon has denied the charges against him and says the case is politically motivated.
Macron, who served under Valls as economy minister before quitting to run against the Socialist Party's candidates, was speaking on another radio station when his former boss issued his endorsement. Macron thanked Valls for his support but said he remained politically independent and committed to renewing the personalities and practices of French politics. Valls also said he didn't plan to work with Macron.
The Socialist nominee, Benoit Hamon, who beat Valls in January's primary, was on television Wednesday morning. The former education minister, who's demanding a basic universal income for French adults, sought to downplay the announcement.
"I am not a candidate to comment on this or that soap opera concerning Mr. Valls," he said on France 2 . "I am here to talk to the French about their problems." Last Sunday, Hamon said on the same television station that he's been "stabbed in the back" by Socialists who have endorsed Macron.
Socialist President Francois Hollande decided not to run for re-election because of his record-low popularity, but the party primary exposed a deep divide between a leftist wing represented by Hamon and a rival faction, headed by Valls, that is more concerned about business and public order.
According to Tuesday's daily Ifop poll, Macron would win 25.5 percent and Le Pen 25 percent on April 23, with Macron winning the second round by 20 points. Fillon lags at 17.5 percent, leftist independent Jean-Luc Melenchon at 14 percent and Hamon at 10.5 percent. Another six candidates share the remaining votes.
With Hamon struggling and Le Pen cozying up to Russia's Vladimir Putin as she threatens to upend the European Union, other Socialist heavyweights such as former Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian have supported Macron.
Hamon supporters accused Valls of reneging on a promise to support whoever won the primary, with Arnaud Montebourg, a former industry minister, saying Valls "has no honor."
Valls said Hamon and Montebourg can't give lessons in loyalty because they both quit his government in 2014 and belonged to a group of Socialist lawmakers who proudly called themselves "les frondeurs," or rebels, and opposed many government laws.
Macron has also received support from centrist former presidential candidate Francois Bayrou, as well as Renaud Dutreil and Dominique Perben, former ministers under conservative President Jacques Chirac. Dominique de Villepin, who was prime minister under Chirac, said March 9 that he won't be voting for Fillon while praising Macron's audacity and democratic principles.
