Marine Le Pen Steps Down as National Front Leader Ahead of Election Runoff

French presidential candidate and leader of the National Front party Marine Le Pen has temporarily left far-right National Front party to focus on her presidential campaign ahead of the election runoff on May 7.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Leader of the National Front party Marine Le Pen said Monday that she would take leave of absence from heading the party to focus on efforts to win the second round of the elections.

"It seemed indispensable to temporarily leave National Front for presidency. This night, I am no longer the president of the National Front, I am only a candidate," Le Pen told the France 2 broadcaster.

Le Pen said that she was glad about the results of the first round and excited to be able to speak about her program.

The far-right candidate stressed that her opponent, independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, would continue the policies of incumbent Socialist President Francois Hollande.

Le Pen will face Macron in the run-off, which is scheduled for May 7.

On Sunday, the first round of the presidential election took place in France, with Macron receiving most of the votes, 24.01 percent, and Le Pen coming in second with 21.3 percent.