After 20 years, France has only one incumbent president leading the first round of voting

President Emmanuel Macron (right) and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen – Photo: Reuters

With 97 percent of votes counted, Mr Macron led his rival, Le Pen, with 27.6% to 23%. According to Le Parisien newspaper, this is the first time in 20 years that an incumbent president has taken the lead in the first round of voting.

Mr. Macron is cautious

As the two leading candidates, Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen will advance to the second round of elections scheduled to take place on April 24. Polls at the end of last week showed that serious candidate Le Pen is not far behind the competition, with an average ratio of only 49-51% in favor of the incumbent. President.

For the outgoing president, that gap is not enough to guarantee victory in the second round. Especially since Ms. Le Pen is working to form a front against Mr. Macron.

While trying to become the first French president to be re-elected since former president Jacques Chirac in 2002, Mr Macron himself was careful to insist that “nothing has been decided” after the first round results.

He said the next round of elections would be “decisive for France and Europe”.

The match between Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen was a rematch of the 2017 election final, in which the incumbent president won by a margin support 66%.

“A sad repetition” and “This time it was really scary”, the left-wing daily Libération said of the “final match” between two candidates.

In 2017, Mr. Macron was determined to “reconcile” a deeply divided France. In 2022, Mr. Macron’s re-election platform is “unity”.

“I want France to be part of a strong Europe, to continue to ally with major democracies to defend itself,” Macron said on April 10. “I don’t want a France, after leaving Europe.” , will have the sole ally of the populists and xenophobics.”

Meanwhile, speaking shortly after the results were announced, Ms Le Pen urged all those who did not vote for Mr Macron to support her in the second round of voting – a vote that reflects the choice. between “society and civilization” of France.

“I will put France in order within five years,” Le Pen told supporters in Paris.

During this year’s campaign, right-wing candidate Le Pen presented a more dovish image and focused on voters’ fundamental anxieties like inflation.

However, opponents accuse her of being divisive and racist, and Mr Macron is expected to take aim at her close past with President Donald Trump. Russian President Putin.

The two candidates Macron and Le Pen will have a debate broadcast live on television on April 20. Traditionally, the debate would attract millions of followers and have an important impact on the final outcome.

In 2017, Mr. Macron was said to have performed better than Ms. Le Pen and won in the end.

Waiting for a surprise in round 2

The second round of voting will take place on April 24. According to an exclusive poll from Ipsos for Radio France Info and daily newspaper Le Parisien, Macron is expected to win the second round with 54% of the vote to Le Pen’s 46%.

For many of France’s nearly 48 million voters, these will be difficult times. Many people will wonder whether to choose the less bad candidate or stay home and not vote.

The results of a reader survey in Le Figaro newspaper showed that more than 64% were not satisfied and only 35% of people were satisfied with the results. round 1 vote.

Left-wing voter Stéphane Van Son (62), a supporter of candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, told the Guardian newspaper that he was not sure if he would go to the second round of voting because to him Macron or Le Pen were equally bad.

Whoever wins, he has to face the outstanding problems in French society today such as pensions, energy, defense, subsidies. social level…

If he wins the upcoming 24-4 election, Mr Macron will have five more years to push through reforms including raising the pension age from 62 to 65 and cutting taxes. enterprise.

The French people are gradually paying less attention to the conflict in Ukraine – which is affecting their pockets – and focusing on closer things like rising fuel prices and inflation.

This is also an issue that Ms. Le Pen is focusing on in campaigns in small towns and rural areas in France.

The far-right candidate has shown interest in voters’ pockets through issues such as fuel tax cuts, income tax exemptions for people under 30, deportation of illegal immigrants. legal…

These policies add to her appeal to working-class voters and those who want to take a tougher line on immigrants.