French President Emmanuel Macron has succeeded in his reelection bid winning 58.2 percent of the votes ahead of Marine Le Pen’s 41.8, exit polls show. “Macron reelected as President,” the French newspaper Le Monde declared as polls closed on Sunday evening and first projections emerged.
French state broadcaster France24 reported the early projections:
Emmanuel Macron was elected to a second term as French president on Sunday evening with 58.2% of the vote, according to an estimate from the Ipsos polling institute. His far-right challenger Marine Le Pen won 41.8% of the vote in an election that saw the country’s highest abstention rate in 50 years.
In the first round of presidential election held on April 1o, Macron led the poll with 27.8 percent of votes against 23.1 percent secured by Le Pen.
Before running for the country’s highest office in 2017, 44-year-old Macron was a French civil servant, and briefly served as an adviser to Socialist President Francois Hollande. In 2016, he created En Marche, a centrist pro-EU party, ahead of his presidential bid.
In her concession speech, Le Pen promised to continue her political struggle. The 53-year-old nationalist candidate was making her third run for the presidency.
German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Le Pen remarks:
In a speech to her supporters in Paris, Le Pen said she had “no hard feelings” over the defeat.”We have been buried a million times already and our adversaries want us to disappear. But I still have hope … that French citizens do not trust their government and those are feelings that I share.”The far-right leader warned that Macron’s next term was likely to show as “much contempt and brutality” for the ordinary French voter as his previous term.In a hint about her future, Le Pen said: “I’m going to continue to work for France and French citizens with the dedication that you know that I am capable of.”
Le Pen is daughter of Jean-Marie, the right-wing politician who unsuccessfully ran for the presidency five times. She took over the National Front party’s leadership from her father in 2011. In 2018, Le Pen rebranded National Front to Rassemblement National, or National Rally.
Macron’s victory will come as a huge relief to the Biden White House which was reportedly “freaking out” the prospect of a Le Pen win, The Politico reported last month. “There is growing concern within President Joe Biden’s administration about the narrowing polls in the French presidential election that show a tight race between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen,” the news outlet added.
The European Union saw itself as a big winner of the day. The EU top brass congratulated Macron on retaining the hold on the French presidency.
The French TV channel Euronews reported:
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron on his re-election. “I look forward to continuing our excellent cooperation. Together, we will move France and Europe forward,” she tweeted. (…)”Warm congratulations dear Emmanuel Macron,” tweeted Charles Michel. “In these turbulent times, we need a solid Europe and a France that is totally committed to a more sovereign and more strategic European Union.”
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