Incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected for a second term after defeating far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a dramatic vote day.
Five years ago, Emmanuel Macron won an overwhelming victory over Marine Le Pen to become president at the age of 39. He is the youngest president in French history. The difference in the number of votes between the two candidates in this year’s rematch is much lower than the one in 2017.
The AP cited the results of the voter survey after the vote, published by Opinionway, Harris, and Ifop on the evening of April 24 (French time, UTC +2) showing that the incumbent president was re-elected for a second term by winning 57 – 58.2% of the votes in favor of voters. This means that Macron, 44, is the first French president in 20 years to win another five-year leadership term.
Meanwhile, Le Pen is expected to lose because she only won 41.5-43% of the vote. However, this is the highest result ever for this 53-year-old female politician in 3 times running for the owner of the Élysée Palace.
Macron’s supporters cheered as the results appeared on a large screen at the Champ de Mars next to the Eiffel Tower.
“No one will be left by the wayside” – Emmanuel Macron emphasized.
Immediately after the results were announced, President Macron gave a speech to supporters. He emphasized, “No one will be left by the wayside” during his next five-year term.
“Many French people voted for me not because they supported me but because they rejected Far-right politics. I want to thank them and I know that I need to improve their lives in my term.” Macron said.
Acknowledging that “many” voters voted for him only to eliminate the far-right candidate – Le Pen, an extreme nationalist, a fiercely nationalist politician who could not take power, Macron pledged “he will be president of all“, unite the country “which is full of doubts, a lot of division” and act to appease the opposition.
“No one will be left by the wayside. We still have a lot of work to do and the war in Ukraine is a reminder that we are going through tragic times. The voice of France must be heard,” Macron said in his victory speech at the Champs de Mars near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, to the cheers of hundreds of his supporters waving French and EU flags on the beat of Daft Punk’s song “One More Time“.
Marine Le Pen accused Emmanuel Macron of “using dirty tricks” to win
At another event on the same evening, Marine Le Pen admitted defeat but said she “will never abandon the French people”. According to the BBC, she thanked voters for voting for her and accused Macron of “using dirty tricks” to win the election.
Sources say Macron won because other parties lobbied their voters to vote for him to stop Le Pen – the EU’s anti-alignment candidate. Le Pen threatened to take France out of the EU (Frexit) like the UK.
If Le Pen becomes president, Frexit will collapse the security and economic structure of the EU and Europe, which is facing its worst military conflict since World War II. Le Pen has spoken out against EU sanctions against Russia and has been criticized for her friendliness towards Moscow.
EU leaders congratulated Macron and hailed his re-election as a victory “for all of Europe”
“Democracy has won, Europe has won,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
“Together, we move France and Europe forward,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.
Cher @EmmanuelMacron, toutes mes félicitations pour votre réélection à la présidence de la République.
Je me réjouis de pouvoir continuer notre excellente coopération.
Ensemble, nous ferons avancer la France et l’Europe.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 24, 2022
