Emmanuel Macron has attained victory in the first round of the French election. And his arch-rival Marine Le Pen will present him with a tough fight while fighting for the presidency for a second time.
During the final hour of voting, he stated that “nothing is decided” because many people have to go home.
At last, he turned out victorious in the first round but opinion pools hint there could be a close competition in the run-off.
Every non-Macron voter, according to Marine Le Pen, should join her and “restore order in France.”
After th counting of 97% of the votes, Emmanuel Macron had 27.6% of the vote, Marine Le Pen 23.41%, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon 21.95%.
The far-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon pulled ahead of his rivals to poll even better than he did in 2017, arguably making him the unlikely kingmaker.
He said: “You must not give a single vote to Marine Le Pen,” but unlike other candidates, he did not call for the president’s ouster. Later that evening, Mélenchon supporters gathered outside his campaign headquarters hoping he would come in second but it was not to be.
Many Melenchon supporters may just opt out of this round, as the candidate who has obtained a majority of the most popular first-round polling might proceed to it.
The 2022 presidential election will be remembered for the devastation that struck two previous political parties, the Republicans and Socialists, which formerly ran France.
With Socialist Anne Hidalgo sinking under 2%, the PSUV fell almost without a trace.
Valérie Pécresse was still in the race for the conservative Republicans just a few months ago. Her party was unable to even reach the 5% threshold required to deduct election expenses, demonstrating just how dismal her performance was.
This is devastating news for a party that’s already riven by division. The state will pay for the rest of the money. The party that fails to reach 5% only receives €800,000 of its campaign financing reimbursed by the state, and the Republicans have already given far more than that.