French far-right leader Marine Le Pen pressed ahead with her party's annual May 1 tradition of honouring mediaeval heroine Joan of Arc despite a nationwide lockdown and criticised President Emmanuel Macron's handling of the coronavirus crisis.
PARIS - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen pressed ahead with her party’s annual May 1 tradition of honouring mediaeval heroine Joan of Arc despite a nationwide lockdown and criticised President Emmanuel Macron’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Unions were organising online activities and asking people to bang their pans and put out banners from their balconies to mark the day. “I’ve never said I had doubts about the confinement. I just said that complete confinement was the solution when we failed to prevent the epidemic,” Le Pen, wearing a mask, told reporters.
The government has said it is prepared to slow or delay the unwinding of the lockdown if the infection rate spikes markedly higher, with administrative departments divided into ‘red’ and ‘green’ zones. In a video message posted on his Twitter account, Macron urged unity and said the country would get through this period.
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