Macron avoids parliamentary vote stand-off with ex-PM Valls

French President-elect Emmanuel Macron on Thursday revealed his party's candidates for the June legislative elections, with a list that does not include former prime minister Manuel Valls.

Macron rejected a bid by Valls to run as its candidate as part of his La République en marche (Republic on the Move) party, but avoided a stand-off with his former rival by deciding not to field a candidate in Valls's constituency of Evry south of Paris.

The party, which had never fought an election until it propelled Macron to the presidency on May 7, also kept a pledge to have a balance of male and female candidates.

Party chief Richard Ferrand revealed the list at a news conference at the party's headquarters in southern Paris.

It named 214 candidates of each sex in a preliminary list of 428 names.

Ferrand, who said the rest of the candidates the party would put up in France's 577 constituencies were still a matter for discussion, added that the party was determined to achieve a working majority in parliament.

"We want to build a majority for change and therefore obtain for La République en Marche an absolute majority in the national assembly," he said.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

Date created : 2017-05-11