After Le Pen took third place in Sunday's ballot with the National Front's top score in a national election, centre-right Sarkozy and Socialist front-runner Francois Hollande have courted her voters, who may decide the May 6 second round result.
Sarkozy's overtures have been more direct, saying that he respects National Front voters and would not criticise a vote for a party which has long been stigmatised. Hollande has said he understood voters who wanted to express their frustration at a stagnant economy and unemployment running at a 12-year high.
The president on Wednesday ruled out any deal with Le Pen which would give the far-right positions in the cabinet or help them win parliamentary seats in June's legislative elections.
But Sarkozy has yet to say whether he would advise supporters of his UMP party to vote Socialist rather than for the National Front in the second round of the June legislative elections to keep the far-right out of parliament.
"In case of a run-off between the National Front and a Socialist, will the UMP party and the president prefer to have one of my deputies or a Socialist deputy elected?" Le Pen said on RTL radio. » | Thursday, April 26, 2012
Sur RTL, Marine Le Pen interpelle Sarkozy et sa... by rtl-fr
