French Election Turning Into 4-Way Race as Chances of Melenchon Up to 17%

The French presidential election is turning into a four-way race, with chances of left-wing political movement La France Insoumise (Unsubmissive France) candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon noticeably rising after Tuesday night's televised debates to 17 percent, a fresh Harris Interactive poll showed Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the survey, statistics for Melenchon improved by 3.5 percent in two weeks, rising from 13.5 percent, recorded by the pollster on March 23.

So far, Melenchon is only 1 percent behind The Republicans' candidate Francois Fillon, who is set to gain support of 18 percent of French voters.

Independent candidate Emmanuel Macron is leading the presidential race with 25 percent of votes, while far-right politician Marine Le Pen is projected to receive 24 percent of votes.

In comparison to the previous Harris Interactive poll conducted two weeks ago, both Macron and Le Pen lost 1 percentage each, while Fillon's positions remained unchanged.

The first round of the French presidential elections will take place on April 23, while the run-off between the top two contenders is scheduled for May 7.