French President, Emmanuel Macron, faces the daunting challenge of uniting a deeply divided nation after winning re-election against far-right, Marine Le Pen.
According to final results from the Interior Ministry, centrist Macron won the elections with 58.54 percent votes in the second-round run-off compared with Le Pen’s 41.46.
Macron is the first French President in two decades to win a second term and his victory prompted a sigh of relief throughout Europe. But his win over his far-right rival was narrower than their last face-off in 2017, where Macron won more than 66 percent. Le Pen’s result this time around was the best ever for the far-right party. Macron acknowledged some of the challenges he now faces in his victory speech on Sunday night (April 24, 2022) in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“Our country is beset by doubts and divisions. Today’s vote requires us to consider all the hardships of people’s lives and to respond effectively to them and to the anger expressed.”
French President, Emmanuel Macron
The Battle Ahead
The French President has a long to-do list, ranging from preparing for key Parliamentary elections in June 2022 to implementing his long-delayed pension reform plans and dealing with the ongoing Russian-Ukraine invasion.
Brice Teinturier, Head of the Ipsos Polling Institute, speaking on French-based radio firms disclosed that “There are not just two Frances, there are at least three”, pointing out that Mélenchon’s France is not reconcilable with Le Pen’s. “Its values and aspirations are radically opposed to those of the far right. The difficulties are going to start real soon”, Teinturier added.
While addressing supporters late Sunday, April 24, 2022, Macron vowed to heal rifts in a deeply divided country, promising a response to the “anger” that prompted many French to vote for the far-right.
The turnout was the lowest in any French Presidential election second-round run-off since 1969 and, in another striking sign of disappointment with politics, 8.6 percent of people who showed up to vote either submitted a blank or nullified ballot in protest.
Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, said on Monday, April 25, 2022, that “We need to respond to the angry and worried messages from millions of French people who say, I can’t make ends meet”.
The 44-year-old President is now faced with parliamentary elections in June 2022, where keeping a majority may be critical for his ambitions. Senior Policy Fellow, and Head of the Paris Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Tara Varma, averred “Macron’s biggest challenge will be to create a sense of cohesion in an extremely fragmented country”.
Oppositions and Plans Ahead
A local newspaper, Le Monde, described Macron’s win as “an evening of victory without a triumph”. Conservative Daily, Le Figaro, also noted that Macron’s win is “no mean feat” but also asked: “Who can possibly believe that it is rooted in popular support?”
Within the next two weeks, Macron is expected to reshuffle his Government, with the departure of Prime Minister, Jean Castex a near certainty, and several other ministers who are also likely to be replaced. One Élysée Official, who spoke on grounds of anonymity, disclosed that “Many in government are exhausted and he [Macron] needs new blood”, Macron will aim for gender parity in his next cabinet and has said he would like to see a woman become his next Prime Minister.
For Le Pen, 53, her third defeat in a Presidential poll was a bitter pill after years of trying to soften her far-right image to make herself more electable. But she made clear she still has political ambitions. Le Pen on Sunday, April 24, 2022, said she would “never abandon”the French and declared that she scored a “brilliant victory” in her defeat.
For the upcoming Parliamentary elections, Le Pen’s party has not formed an alliance with that of far-right rival, Éric Zemmour, who scored seven percent in the first round of the Presidential election. Senior Le Pen aide, Jean-Philippe Tanguy, said Zemmour would have to acknowledge that she was the leader of the opposition.
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