France's Melenchon says will not endorse any candidate for presidential runoff
Jean-Luc Melenchon, candidate of the French far-left Parti de Gauche and candidate for the French 2017 presidential election, speaks to supporters after the first round of 2017 French presidential election in Paris, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
PARIS Defeated French presidential election first-round candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon said on Friday he would not give any indication as to who his supporters should vote for in the May 7 runoff.
"Me, I will vote...but I am not going to tell you how," Melenchon said in a video message posted on youtube.com.
"You don't need me to know what you are going to do. I am not a guru, not a guide".
Just under 20 percent of people who cast a vote in the first round picked Melechon.
One poll on Friday by Odoxa showed that about 40 percent of those who voted for Melenchon in round one would vote for the centrist Emmanuel Macron, who is overall expected to win the second round with about 60 percent of the total vote.
Odoxa said his run-off rival, far-right leader Marine Le Pen would get 19 percent of the Melenchon first-round vote, while 41 percent of it would be abstentions, the poll said.
(Reporting by Cyril Camu; Writing by Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Andrew Callus)