The conservative contender in the French presidential election, Valérie Pécresse, held what rivals and campaign insiders touted as a make-or-break campaign rally on Sunday afternoon – following a string of defections to Emmanuel Macron’s camp, alongside criticism from her party’s influential ex-boss, former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Pécresse, a former minister in Sarkozy's government, has been vying with far-right candidates Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour for second position in opinion polls – a sign that a place in a run-off against incumbent President Macron, who leads the polls, is not guaranteed.
