© Associated PressEmmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen
The far-right National Front attacked presidential front-runner Emmanuel Macron as a "candidate of oligarchs" and banking lobbies, who parties with show-business celebrities, as it sought to portray Marine Le Pen as more in touch with the French people.
The morning after the election-night parties, the National Front was eager to underscore the differences between long-time opposition politician Le Pen and political newcomer Macron, a former investment banker and economy minister. Macron had 23.8 percent in the
first round and Le Pen had 21.5 percent, according to results from the Interior Ministry with 97.4 percent of votes counted.
"We are in almost perfect opposition on all points," Florian Philippot, the party's vice-president, told France 2 television on Monday.
With both establishment parties knocked out of the race after Sunday's first round, anti-euro Le Pen and independent Macron have two weeks to secure a majority in the May 7 runoff. The next round will present their starkly
different visions, with Macron representing a France that has thrived on its openness to the world and Le Pen speaking for those who have been hurt by it.
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