Centrist Macron and Le Pen, longtime flag bearer for the far-right French, were the top two candidates in Sunday’s first round of voting, taking 27.8% and 23.2% of the vote respectively, according to the French Interior. ministry.
Twelve candidates competed for the top position. Since none of them received more than 50% of the vote in the first round, the top two candidates will face each other in a runoff on April 24.
The first round of the 2022 contest was marked by voter apathy, with a participation estimated at 73.3%, according to an analysis by pollster Ifop-Fiducial for French broadcasters TF1 and LCI – the lowest in a first round in 20 years.
Although Macron received more votes than any other candidate in the first round, he is a polarizing figure whose approval rating has fallen during his first term.
In a speech after polls closed on Sunday, he urged citizens to vote in the second round.
“Nothing is settled and the debate we will have over the next 15 days is decisive for our country and our Europe,” he said. “I don’t want a France that, after it leaves Europe, would have as its only allies the international populists and xenophobes. We are not. I want a France that is faithful to humanism, to the spirit of enlightenment,” he said.
Macron aims to become the first French president to win reelection since Jacques Chirac in 2002. Polls have given him a consistent lead over the rest of the field, but the race has tightened significantly in the past month.
Polls by Ifop-Fiducial released on Sunday showed Macron would win a second round match against Le Pen by just 51% to 49%.
Le Pen’s support has steadily increased in recent weeks. While she is best known for her far-right policies such as drastically restricting immigration and banning Muslim headscarves in public places, this time she has campaigned more mainstream, softening her language and focusing more on wallet issues such as the rising cost of living, a major concern for the French electorate.
In her speech on Sunday, Le Pen vowed to become president for “all French” if she wins the second round, and called on those who did not vote for Macron to support her in the second round.
Left-wing firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon came in third, with 22% of the vote. He enjoyed a late wave of support and was considered a possible dark horse candidate to challenge Macron.
Who Melenchon voters choose to back in the second round could determine the presidency, experts say. Melenchon told his supporters that “we should not give Ms Le Pen any voice”, but did not explicitly support Macron.
No other candidate received more than 10% of the vote. Far-right political commentator became presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who ranked fourth among the top three candidates until March, according to the Ifop poll. 7.1%.
The other candidates on Sunday’s vote have quickly begun to put their weight behind the top two. While Zemmour called on his supporters to vote for Le Pen, the others urged their supporters to stay away from her.
The candidates of the traditional center-left and center-right parties, the Socialists and the Republicans, have already backed Macron.
Socialist Anne Hidalgo said a Le Pen victory in France “would fuel a hatred of everyone against everyone”, while Republican Valerie Pecresse said she was genuinely concerned about the country because “the far right has never been so close to victory” .
“Marine Le Pen’s project will open France to discord, impotence and collapse,” Pecresse said.
the resit
Macron’s political rise shattered the playing field as his centrist political party has drawn supporters away from the traditional centrist parties, the socialists and the republicans. Both candidates polled below 5% on Sunday.
Pre-race polls showed that a Macron vs. Le Pen was the most likely outcome. Macron handily beat Le Pen five years ago, but experts have said a second match between the two would be much tighter than the 2017 race.
Macron’s signature policy during the crisis — requiring people to show proof of vaccinations in order to lead their lives normally — helped boost vaccination rates but sparked a vocal minority against his presidency.
Macron has campaigned little to date. Experts believe his strategy was to avoid political mud-slinging for as long as possible in order to promote his image as the most presidential of all candidates. According to polls, he consistently led all candidates and was considered a shoo-in to make it to the second round.
“The widespread discontent with Macron (especially among the young) means the outcome is uncertain and unpredictable. Le Pen will continue to benefit from this, and a major political upheaval therefore remains possible,” said DailyExpertNews European Affairs commentator Dominic Thomas of the second round. . matchup.
“As much as they may hate Le Pen, there is a world of difference between her and Macron, and how she would disrupt European and global politics.”
Le Pen is the daughter of another famous far-right presidential candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen. The elder Le Pen made it to the second round against Jacques Chirac in 2002, but Marine Le Pen has outperformed her father in the first round of each of the past two presidential elections.
The contest was initially predicted to be a referendum on the dominance of the far-right in French politics, but the war in Ukraine — another key issue for voters — turned the race on its head.
According to Ifop polls, Macron’s support peaked in early March, when potential voters gathered around the flag and rewarded the president for his efforts to mediate the conflict in Ukraine before the Russian invasion, even if it was a failure.
Many pundits also expected the war to hurt Le Pen, who was an outspoken admirer of Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader turned pariah in the West following the Kremlin’s decision to invade Ukraine in late February. Le Pen visited the Russian president during her 2017 campaign; this time, she was forced to delete a flyer with a photo of her and Putin from that trip after Russia’s unprovoked attack on its neighbor.
Thomas, the DailyExpertNews commentator on European affairs, explained that the debates ahead will be crucial if Macron is to convince voters that Le Pen’s past support for Putin should disqualify her.
“He will be vulnerable on a range of domestic issues, but she will struggle to convince voters of her foreign policy credentials, especially given her long-standing ties to Russia,” he said.