LOC12:35
09:35 GMT
PARIS, March 9 (KUNA) -- Independent candidate Emmanuel Macron has edged into the lead in the latest opinion poll on voting intentions for the first round of the French presidential election and has taken a slight, one point lead over far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, a survey indicated Thursday.
The Harris Interactive Survey showed that Macron, a political centrist, would get 26 percent of ballots on April 23, when 47 million voters will be called to the polls for the first round of the presidential contest. Le Pen is credited with 25 percent in the initial vote first-round ballot.
The poll also showed that Macron would go on to win the presidency two weeks later by beating Le Pen in the second round. It is the first time that Macron has led in the first-round polls, although he has always been tipped by pollsters to qualify for the second round on May 7.
The 39-year-old former investment banker, who was briefly Economy Minister from 2014-2016 in the Socialist government, has garnered growing support from all sides of the political spectrum and he specifically refuses to adhere to any formal political party.
He founded a popular, progressive movement called "En Marche (Moving Forward)" to drive his presidential campaign bid based on a policy of reform of France's institutions and a liberalising of certain business and economic sectors, which he maintains are stagnated and sclerotic.
The Harris poll indicated that Macron would also win the second round vote, defeating Le Pen by 65 percent to 35 percent to become the youngest-ever president of France.
Traditional party contenders like Francois Fillon of the Republican Party and Benoit Hamon from the ruling Socialist party would be eliminated in the first round, the poll indicated. (end)
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