"The lesser of two evils"..Defeated presidential candidates mobilize support for Macron

The defeated candidates in the French presidential elections, from across the political spectrum and currents, called on their supporters to give their votes in the second round to the outgoing president, Emmanuel Macron. This is to block the way for the far-right candidate, Marie Le Pen.

France's presidential candidates who were defeated in the first round of elections on Sunday urged their supporters not to vote for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who came second to outgoing President Emmanuel Macron in Sunday's election.

Candidates from the left, far-left, environmental, socialist and communist parties called on their supporters to vote for Macron in the second round scheduled for this month.

The initial results of the first round were disastrous for the French left-wing political spectrum, while raising the balance of the far-right.

This is because left-wing candidates failed to form a united front in the run-up to the elections and decided to run separate campaigns.

In turn, left-wing presidential candidate Jean Melenchon, who came in third place, called on his supporters not to vote for Marine Le Pen.

"We must not give a single vote to Mrs. Le Pen," Melenchon, whose opinion polls have estimated at 19-20% of the vote, told his supporters, calling on the French people "to vote for the 'lesser of two evils'" in reference to Macron, in order to defeat Le Pen.

Also, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris and the candidate of the Socialist Party, called on her supporters to vote against Le Pen.

Hidalgo, whose party dominated French politics under François Hollande (2012-2017), received a shockingly low percentage of the vote, at 1.8 to 2% of the vote.

Commenting on the results, Hidalgo said: "The results and the abstention in the elections show that France is divided."

She called on voters to ensure the country is not swept into hatred of all against all, adding, "I strongly ask you to vote on April 24 against the far-right led by Le Pen and vote instead for Emmanuel Macron."

Also, presidential candidate Valerie Pecres, who came in fifth place according to opinion polls, said she would vote for Macron "to prevent the chaos that may result with Le Pen's coming to power."

She asked her constituents to consider "seriously the potential dire consequences for our country and future generations of any different choice" than her choice to vote in the second round of elections.

For his part, Fabien Roussel of the Communist Party, who finished eighth in the first round, said that the French should stop the far right.

"Next Sunday, I will choose responsibility," he said. "I will never allow a racist and xenophobic project to take responsibility in France...I know it's increasingly difficult to say."

Yannick Gaddo, the candidate for the Environment Party, who finished sixth in Sunday's election with 4.5% of the vote, in turn reminded his supporters of the fundamental threat posed by the far right.

"We will not give up, the country's situation requires us to," he said, calling on environmental voters to fend off the far right.

The current French president, who is running for a second term, Emmanuel Macron, and the right-wing National Rally candidate, Marine Le Pen, ascended to the second round of the presidential elections in France.

The official results of the first round of French presidential elections will be announced by the Supreme Constitutional Court on April 13.

Macron and Le Pen also competed in the 2017 presidency, which Macron won with 66.1% of the total votes.