The outgoing head of state obtained a fairly imposing victory with 57.6 to 58.2% of the vote, according to estimates, a gain however tempered by a strong abstention.
The French have therefore chosen to renew a centrist liberal and very pro-European president in the face of a radical candidate with the national priority
at the heart of his project, and extremely critical of the European Union.
Dear Emmanuel Macron, congratulations on your re-election […]. I look forward to continuing our excellent cooperation. Together, we will move France and Europe forward
reacted on Twitter the leader of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
In this turbulent period, we need a solid Europe and a France fully committed to a more sovereign and more strategic EU
reacted the President of the European Council Charles Michel.
Gathered at the Champ de Mars in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower, Emmanuel Macron’s supporters chanted and one, and two, and five more!
before a disc jockey started mixing music less than ten minutes after the estimates were announced.
Emmanuel Macron, 44, is the first French president to be re-elected for a second term in 20 years, since Jacques Chirac in 2002 against Marine Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
But this election is part of a context of record abstention, estimated at 27.8% by Ifop, an unprecedented rate for a second round since 1969 (31.3%).
The reflex of republican front
or the barrage on the far right, which had worked five years ago, has this time been less and the elections shine a light on a country that is widely fractured.
By way of comparison, Mr. Macron won 66.10% of the vote in 2017, well ahead of Ms. Le Pen (33.90%).
Following her defeat in the second round of the French presidential election, Marine Le Pen addressed her supporters.
At 53, with a score between 41.8 and 42.4%, the latter takes the far right to a record level in France, auguring difficult times for the re-elected president, whose first challenge will be to obtain a majority in the June legislative elections.
The ideas we represent reach new heights
said Ms Le Pen, welcoming the compatriots from the provinces and the countryside
et overseas
this France too forgotten, we, we don’t forget it
.
She also announced her desire to continue the political fight. We are launching this evening the great electoral battle of the legislative elections
she said to thunderous applause from her supporters.
The leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, eliminated in the first round, but who came third, also wanted to promise electoral hell in the legislative elections of June 12 and 19 to Emmanuel Macron, President badly chosen
. The third round starts tonight
did he declare.
Macron’s challenges
Emmanuel Macron will have the task of bringing together divided French people and responding to a very significant anger since the demonstrations of the Yellow Vests of 2018/2019, which has never really been resolved.
It will also have to respond to the anxieties aroused by the succession of crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine.
During his last major meeting in Marseille a week ago, Mr. Macron, much criticized for his green record, promised that a new five-year term under his reign would be ecological or would not
and promised a renewal of the policy.
Often referred to as president of the rich
the president has made many gestures towards this left-wing electorate, seeming ready to make concessions on certain points, and in particular his controversial and emblematic pension reform, which he failed to implement during his first term. .
Abstentions
These promises were not enough to lower the abstention rate during this second round, which also fell at the start of school holidays. Nor to arouse a large membership vote.
Marine Le Pen during her vote for the second round of the presidential election on Sunday.
Photo : Getty Images / Sylvain Lefevre
Like Nicolas Moreau, 44, a municipal councilor in Bersée in the north, who explained that he had carried out one vote per obligation
. Or Véronique, a resident of Bersée, for whom between the two choices, we try to choose the least bad
.
Defeated for the third time in her career in a presidential election, Ms. Le Pen failed to break the ceiling the distant
represented in France by the possibility of a victory for the extreme right. With her high score, she nevertheless places her political family and her radical ideas even more at the heart of the French scene.
Mrs Le Pen is thus reaping the fruits of a strategy of demonization
patiently carried out for a decade.
She smoothed and softened her speech, trivialized her image, showing herself close to the concerns of the French, even if, on the merits, her program remains just as radical, in particular on immigration and institutions.