Campaigning in the French presidential race officially opens on Monday, in the wake of a weekend of rallies involving several of the major contenders. Opinion polls suggest incumbent Emmanuel Macron remains the clear favourite to win, despite his refusal to engage in a campaign because of the Ukraine crisis.
Several of Macron's opponents have accused him of shying away from democratically necessary debate.
Questioned on Sunday on his meagre campaign effort so far, Macron told broadcaster France 3 that "no one would understand at a moment when there's war" if he was out electioneering "when decisions have to be made for our countrymen".
But the incumbent has also emphasised his frustration at his incapacity to launch a "normal" campaign.
"I wish I could get to grips, start fighting, make contact with electors," he said on Sunday.
On Monday, the incumbent president will launch his official campaign with a visit to the rich agricultural Burgundy region in central France. The emphasis will be on schools and vocational training. The president is expected to visit a technical college and meet apprentice bakers.
In his "Letter to the French People," a policy document issued earlier this month, the president-candidate placed education and training at the heart of his ambitions, saying that he wished "to build a country for our children, not return to the country of our childhood".
Majority party unhappiness
There has been discontent within the president's majority party.
"Without him, it's just not working," a party insider told the FranceInfo news channel. "We're campaigning, but nobody seems to notice. We're having trouble getting stuck into the fundamentals."
Another presidential aide is quoted as saying "people are stressing only the negative. He's trying to prevent the outbreak of a third world war, not hiding behind Ukraine!"
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Short of a major upset at the 10 April first-round vote, Macron's opponent in the runoff will be far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen -- a repeat of the first-round outcome five years ago.
But Le Pen's far-right rival Eric Zemmour, conservative Valérie Pécresse and left-winger Jean-Luc Mélenchon still hope they can emerge from the pack to reach the second round on 24 April.
Simultaneous rallies
Former newspaper columnist and TV commentator Zemmour on Sunday rallied thousands near the Eiffel Tower, urging more energy from his supporters after a speech hitting familiar notes of nostalgia for past French greatness and swipes at unassimilated immigrants.
Now trailing below 10 percent in some polls, Zemmour is far short of Le Pen's roughly 20 percent and Macron at close to 30.
Le Pen strove to project serenity, on Sunday again seeking to cast herself as more mainstream and competent than her rival but her weekend visit to the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe was disrupted by protestors.
Pécresse has struggled to make herself heard and a positive Covid test has kept her from planned campaign stops, obliged to switch to video.
On Sunday, the leading left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon -- polling at 12 to 15 percent -- was rallying supporters in the Mediterranean port city Marseille.
Left-wing voters are split between Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo -- polling around just two percent for the once-mighty Socialist Party -- Communist candidate Fabien Roussel and Greens boss Yannick Jadot.
Strict media rules
"Everything could be decided in the two weeks," with four in 10 likely voters still undecided, according to an analyst at the BVA Opinion polling group.
According to the rules, as of Monday, all 12 presidential candidates are entitled to equal airtime, known as "temps de parole" or "speaking time", calculated by the national audiovisual regulatory body, Arcom.
This means networks can't cut corners by featuring one candidate during primetime and relegating a rival to the middle of the night.
The posting of campaign advertising will also be controlled, with penalties for parties which allow illegal poster or video clips.
Click here to find out how the French electoral system works.
