PARIS — French voters will go to the polls to elect a new president on April 18 and on May 2 next year, according to two government officials who were granted anonymity to speak about a decision that has not yet been made public.
The election details, first reported by local newspaper Ouest France, are expected to be publicly announced after a cabinet meeting Wednesday morning.
Given the legal and constitutional constraints regarding the dates of French presidential elections, the only other dates that would have worked were April 11 and April 25. However, the dates chosen will see the election take place closer to May 13, when President Emmanuel Macron’s second term concludes.
With Macron constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, a massive number of candidates are lining up to replace him. Among them are two of his former prime ministers, Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, and radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The front-runner will be whoever runs from the National Rally. But the far-right party cannot decide if longtime leader Marine Le Pen or rising star Jordan Bardella will run until a court rules on Le Pen’s appeal of her conviction of embezzling EU funds and her five-year ban on running for public office.