France's incumbent President Emmanuel Macron denied on Wednesday any wider political agreement with right-wing former President Nicolas Sarkozy to endorse Macron ahead of the second round of the presidential election to be held on April 24.
French media has speculated that Macron, who will need a new majority after legislative elections later this year following the presidential vote, obtained Sarkozy's endorsement after offering political influence in return.
"There was no agreement," Macron told France 2 television, a day after Sarkozy endorsed him. Macron is facing a tight race against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Macron also said on Wednesday he was ready to forge new political alliances to continue reforming France.
"The fractures we have in the country will require me not only to obtain a majority but also to rally all those political forces behind me that don't totally share my views on all topics but would be open to work with me on some reforms," Macron said.
"I'm not talking about coalitions," he added, saying that such cross-party arrangements were not suitable for France's presidential political system.
Sarkozy's endorsement will help Macron attract voters who backed the conservatives' candidate Valerie Pecresse in the first round of the election, but it could also deter left-wing voters who will see it as confirmation that Macron is as right-wing as Sarkozy.
Sarkozy, 67, is France's last conservative president and is still seen as an influential figure in the center-right Les Republicains party. However, the very existence of Les Republicains now appears under threat after many of its voters backed Macron or Le Pen in Sunday's first round.
Sarkozy had posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday that he will vote for Macron because he believes "Macron has the necessary experience faced with a grave international crisis ... his economic project puts the value of work as the top priority and his commitment to Europe is clear and unambiguous."
"We must abandon our partisan habits ... Fidelity to right-wing republican values and our governing culture must lead us to answer Emmanuel Macron's call for unity," Sarkozy said.
The statement had come just days after the candidate from Sarkozy's own conservative Republicans party – whom he had refused to support publicly – was eliminated in the first round of the election. Candidate Valerie Pecresse obtained only 4.8% in the vote on Sunday. This puts the Republicans in dire financial straits because it failed to reach the 5% threshold above which election campaign spending is reimbursed by the state.
On Monday, Pecresse issued an urgent plea for donations to ensure her party's survival, saying she had personally racked up campaign debts of 5 million euros ($5.5 million).