Macron says Le Pen showing authoritarian streak after journalist ban

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron launched a scathing attack on far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Wednesday, saying her true “authoritarian” intentions were showing after she banned a team of reporters and did not rule out a return to the death penalty.

Macron, a pro-European centrist, became president in 2017 after easily beating Le Pen when voters rallied behind him to keep the far-right out of power. This time, he is facing a much tougher challenge.

He is slightly ahead in polls, but Le Pen has successfully tapped into anger over the cost of living and a perception that Macron is disconnected from everyday hardships and some polls show her victory in the April 24 runoff is within the margin of error.

Criticised for not properly campaigning in the run-up to the first round, Macron has changed tack and headed to areas where people voted against him to engage and adopted a more aggressive rhetoric towards his rival.

He has categorised Le Pen’s manifesto as full of lies and false promises that conceal a far-right agenda that ultimately would lead to France’s exit from the European Union.

“Despite all the efforts, the true face of the far-right is coming back. It is a face that doesn’t respect freedoms, the constitutional framework, press independence, and fundamental freedoms, rights,” Macron told France 2 television.

Le Pen said on Tuesday that the show whose journalists were refused accreditation was entertainment rather than journalism and that she reserved the right - now as a candidate, and later as president if elected - to choose who can come to her news conferences.

Such comments are the start of an “authoritarian drift,” Macron said. Le Pen, who has made a concerted push to detoxify her party’s image, retorted that Macron was showing his “weakness” and was in no position to give lessons on how to handle the press.

Macron has had a bumpy relationship with the media during his presidency and last week was criticised for refusing to take part in several prime time shows ahead of the first round.