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