Mr. Emmanuel Macron prevails

President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen will face each other in the second round of the presidential election. France takes place on 24/4.

If he wins, Mr. Macron, the candidate for the Republican Progressive Party (LREM), will be the first French president to be re-elected in 20 years to stay in power for another five years. In contrast, Ms. Le Pen, the National Rally Party candidate, will become the first female French president.

All recent opinion polls show Emmanuel Macron leading by 6-15 percentage points. Meanwhile, Ms. Le Pen is judged to have no time to close the gap with Mr. Macron before the vote takes place, especially when she passed up the opportunity to do so in a face-to-face debate with her opponent. April 20th.

In the first round of the election on April 10, 10 candidates were eliminated and the outcome of the second round will depend heavily on the votes of their supporters. This is not an easy choice, especially for left-wing voters who do not like Emmanuel Macron but also do not want Le Pen to win the election.

That forced the French leader recently to make moves and statements to attract this number of voters. The effort, however, ran into obstacles when far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon refused to appeal to millions of voters to back him to elect Macron. Consolingly, Mr. Melenchon also urged them not to vote for Ms. Le Pen.

Two candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen before participating in the debate on April 20 Photo: REUTERS

The fact is that even without Mr. Melenchon’s backing, President Emmanuel Macron still has the support of many right-wing and left-wing politicians following the first round of the election. Meanwhile, according to page BloombergMs. Le Pen revealed economic weakness as the vote approached.

There are also many differences between these two candidates. Mr. Macron wants to further strengthen the European Union (EU) by strengthening consensus on a range of issues, from health to defence. In addition, the leader also pledged to change the country’s economy towards becoming more independent while protecting social welfare.

Meanwhile, Le Pen wants to reform the EU into a union of nations, and pledges to help millions of French citizens improve their incomes after saying they have been “poor in five years in power”. by Mr. Macron.

According to ReutersMs. Le Pen also pursued policies such as banning Muslim women from wearing the hijab in public, prioritizing jobs and the welfare of French citizens, and limiting European regulations on the matter. cross-border travel.

European leaders are keeping a close eye on the French presidential election, with concerns about a scenario where Ms. Le Pen wins. In a joint article published in several newspapers on April 21, the prime ministers of Germany, Spain and Portugal urged French voters not to vote for Ms. Le Pen.

Even US officials are interested in the French presidential election because of fears that an unsatisfactory outcome could affect the relationship between President Joe Biden and Europe.

According to the sheet The New York TimesMr. Emmanuel Macron is currently an important partner of the US as the President of the White House tries to rebuild relations with Europe, as well as form an alliance to deal with Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.