Valls still undecided over presidential support

Former Socialist party prime minister Manuel Valls has denied reports that he will be calling for voters to back independent Socialist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron. Nor will he be backing Benoit Hamon, the Socialist Party’s candidate.

This follows reports carried in the French daily Le Parisien Monday that he would be backing Macron.

However, late Monday evening, Reuters news agency reported that a senior party official had denied Le Parisien’s claims on Twitter.

Socialist Party official Carlos Da Silva, who was Valls' substitute in the National Assembly while he was prime minister, said the Parisien story was false.

He said the report went too far because it was too early and Valls had not decided yet He did not provide further details.

Both Hamon and Macron were ministers in governments headed by Valls.

Recent opinion polls show Macron as the front-runner in the election and that he will go on to defeat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff, while Hamon will be eliminated in the first round