Press. voanews.com
Preliminary
results from France’s first round of presidential elections confirmed that
centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and nationalist, anti-immigration candidate
Marine Le Pen are heading into a runoff in two weeks, marking what analysts
describe as a political earthquake in France.
It is the
first time in the history of the modern French Republic that the presidency
will be held by a member of a non-traditional party, highlighting a deep
anti-establishment sentiment that ultimately could determine whether France
remains a part of the EU or follows an independent path like that of
post-Brexit Britain and the United States under Donald Trump.
According
to projected results, Macron garnered 23.8 percent, and Le Pen won 21.7
percent. The winner needs an absolute majority and that will be determined in a
runoff on May 7th.
“In one
year, we have entirely changed French politics,” Macron said at a victory rally
Sunday night.
Macron, a
39-year-old center-left former economy minister who is pro-EU, pro-business,
led pre-election polls despite his previous association with unpopular
Socialist President Francois Hollande. The appeal of his year-old En Marche!
(Onward!) movement lies mainly in France’s prosperous urban areas, where
globalism has benefited many.
His
challenge is to galvanize support of centrists and the left, including members
of France’s fractured Socialist party, and convince voters he does not
represent an extension of Hollande’s policies.
Macron
will face Le Pen and her National Front party, whose strongholds are largely in
formerly industrial areas of France where unemployment is high and so is
disillusionment with the modern economic and social order. Le Pen, who wants
France out of the European Union, has succeeded in winning over large numbers
of former leftists and centrists. Over the next two weeks, she hopes to draw
from the right and the center, especially those who are most disillusioned with
the status quo.
“It is
time to liberate the French people,” she told supporters at a rally Sunday. Among
the top contenders from 11 candidates was former Prime Minister Francois
Fillon, a center-right social conservative whose bid was damaged by allegations
of creating fake jobs for close relatives. Conceding defeat on Sunday, he
endorsed Macron.
The vote
happened amid tight security following a terrorist attack in Paris just days
before the poll that observers thought would benefit Le Pen.
On
Sunday, 50,000 police officers backed by 7,000 soldiers, including special
forces, were deployed to the streets amid tensions following the attack claimed
by the Islamic State terrorist group. The shooting along the iconic
Champs-Elysees in the heart of Paris left one police officer dead and several
other people injured.
In a
tweet one day after the Champs Elysees shooting, U.S. President Trump said,
“The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect
on presidential election!”
Analysts
and voters interviewed saw this as the most unpredictable election since World
War II. One third of voters were undecided just days before the balloting. In
the last few weeks before the vote, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon
surged in the polls and so did discussion of the previously obscure candidate
in social media.
Among the
ways his campaign lured young voters was through the release of a video game in
which a player pretending to be Melenchon walks the streets and takes money
from men in suits. The player is shown in a battle against the rich and
powerful.
Anger at
the establishment is the sentiment driving voters in an election in which
security, France’s lagging economy, its 10 percent unemployment rate, and
Islamist extremism are issues on the minds of those on the left and on the
right.
French
presidential election at a polling station in Lyon, France, April 23, 2017. That,
say analysts, is what influenced large numbers of people, including some of the
middle and upper class residents of Paris, to vote for candidates of the
extreme.
“Some of
them for the thrill of it. It’s the principle, you know. Like playing Russian
roulette, but politically. Some others it would be because they despise the
elite of this country,” said Thomas Guénolé, a political analyst in Paris, told
VOA.
Socialist
President Francois Hollande announced he would not to run for reelection after
his approval ratings sank to 4 percent, something analysts widely attribute to
a string of terrorist attacks in France and a stagnation of economic growth
during his tenure. Hollande is the first incumbent president not to seek
reelection in the history of modern France.