French presidential front-runner in colonialism storm

French presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, has drawn a storm of criticism from his opponents after calling France’s colonisation of Algeria a “crime against humanity.”

Macron visited the Martyrs’ Memorial Centre in Algeria this week and during a television interview the Centrist said French actions in Algeria which gained independence in 1962, were “genuinely barbaric and constitute a part our past that we have to confront by apologising.”

According to AFP, Les Republicans candidate, Francois Fillon, condemned what he called “this hatred of our history, this perpetual repentance that is unworthy of a candidate for the presidency of the republic” while an official from Marine Le Pen’s Far-right National Front party accused Macron of “shooting France in the back.”

The violent history between France and Algeria is still a source of tension between the two countries and within French political circles.

Opinion polls predict that Macron will win April’s election, but there will be a run-of in May with his main rival being Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon.