President Macron and Le Pen head for French election runoff – projections

President Macron and Le Pen head for French election runoff – projections

by Joseph Anthony
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Supporters of Marine Le Pen, leader of French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party, sing the Marseillaise as they wait for election results in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election, in Paris

Franceโ€™s incumbent leader Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen are heading for an April 24 presidential election runoff, projections showed after first round voting on Sunday.

Macron garnered 28.1-29.5% of votes in the first round while Le Pen won 23.3-24.4%, according to separate estimates by pollsters Ifop, OpinionWay, Elabe and Ipsos.
That would set up a duel between an economic liberal with a globalist outlook in Macron and a deeply eurosceptic economic nationalist who, until the Ukraine war, was an open admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo, who polled ninth with just under 2% of votes, backed Macron. โ€œSo that France does not fall into hatred of all against all, I solemnly call on you to vote on April 24 against the far-right of Marine Le Pen,โ€ she said.
Conservative candidate Valerie Pecresse also said she would vote for Macron, warning of โ€œdisastrous consequencesโ€ if he did not win the runoff. But rival far-right candidate Eric Zemmour will call on his supporters to back Le Pen, Marion Marechal โ€“ who is an ally of Zemmour and Le Penโ€™s niece โ€“ told BFM TV.
Not for two decades has a French president won a second term.
Barely a month ago, Macron appeared near certain to reverse that, riding high in polls thanks to strong economic growth, a fragmented opposition and his statesman role in trying to avert war on Europeโ€™s eastern flank.
But he paid a price for late entry into the campaign during which he eschewed market walkabouts in provincial France in favour of a single big rally outside Paris. A plan to make people work longer also proved unpopular.
By contrast, Le Pen for months toured towns and villages across France, focusing on cost-of-living issues that trouble millions and tapping into anger towards the political elite.
โ€˜SCARED OF EXTREMESโ€™
A more than 10 point lead Macron had enjoyed as late as mid-March narrowed and voter surveys ahead of the first round showed his margin of victory in an eventual runoff whittled down to within the margin of error.
โ€œIโ€™m scared of the political extremes,โ€ said pensioner Therese Eychenne, 89, after voting for Macron in Paris. โ€œI donโ€™t know what would become of France.โ€
The hard leftโ€™s Jean-Luc Melenchon polled third on Sunday, with an estimated 20%, the projections showed.
A Le Pen victory on April 24 would constitute a similar jolt to the establishment as Britainโ€™s Brexit vote to leave the European Union (EU) or Donald Trumpโ€™s 2017 entry into the White House.
France, the EUโ€™s second largest economy, would lurch from being a driving force for European integration to being led by a euro-sceptic who is also suspicious of the NATO military alliance.
While Le Pen has ditched past ambitions for a โ€œFrexitโ€ or to haul France out of the euro zoneโ€™s single currency, she envisages the EU as a mere alliance of sovereign states.
Who next holds the Elysee Palace will depend on how those who backed Macron and Le Penโ€™s rivals cast their ballots.
In past elections in 2002 and 2017, voters on the left and right have united to block the far-right from power.
However, surveys suggest that the so-called โ€œrepublicain frontโ€ has crumbled, with many left-wing voters saying they are loathe to endorse a leader they deride as arrogant and a โ€œpresident of the rich.โ€
โ€œWe want change, so why not give her a chance (in round two)?โ€ technician Alex Talcone said in the Paris suburb of Bobigny after voting for hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon.
REUTERS

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