France's Macron will not put up a candidate against ex-PM Valls in parliamentary election

French President elect Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the abolition of slavery and to pay tribute to the victims of the slave trade at the Jardins du Luxembourg in Paris, France, May 10, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Feferberg/Pool

PARIS (Reuters) - French President elect Emmanuel Macron's party will not put up a candidate in the constituency where former Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls stands, a senior official of the centrist's Republic on the Move party said on Thursday. Valls, whose political views are similar to Macron's and who represents a moderate grouping on the right of a deeply divided Socialist party, has said he wants to play a role in Macron's presidential majority. However, the newly elected president's team said he did not fit the criteria to be a Republic on the Move candidate in the June parliamentary elections. "We will not be investing Manuel Valls (as a candidate)" Richard Ferrand, secretary general of Republic on the Move told a news conference, but he added: "We will not be putting a candidate up against Manuel Valls." (Reporting by Michel Rose; Writing by Andrew Callus; Editing by Ingrid Melander)