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The first time Emmanuel Macron faced Marine Le Pen was in the second round of the 2017 election when he won comfortably. At that time, the current president received 66.06% of the vote against Le Pen’s 33.94%.
In the current contest, in which the two meet again on April 24, victory doesn’t seem to be that easy.
On Sunday, in the first round that counted 95% of schools, Macron received 27.4% of the vote while Le Pen received 24%.
According to the BBC, veteran political commentator Alain Duhamel has expressed that “the anti-system parties now have the loyalty of the majority of French people” since when Marine Le Pen’s voice added to that of Éric Zemmour and the third candidate will ” Sovereignty » Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the extreme right would have 33% of the vote, seven points more than in 2017. The anti-Le Pen vote and the anti-Macron vote are now converging; the first is going down and the second is down above, he comments.
A poll by Ifop-Fiducial puts the April 24 forecast at 51% for Macron and 49% for Le Pen, while Ipsos-Sopra Steria gives the current president a larger lead, 54% to 46%.
In his speech after the results were announced, Macron urged the French to stop the extreme right. “I invite everyone, including those who did not vote for me in the first ballot, to support us.”called. “Enjoyable populism and xenophobia, this is not France”held. “Nothing is decided”he added while asking his followers not to do so “low effort”
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Five losing candidates urged their voters not to favor Le Pen: Mélenchon, Valérie Pécresse (4.7% of the vote), Yannick Jadot (4.5%), Fabien Roussel (2.3%) and Anne Hidalgo (1, 7%).
France Insumisa leader Jean-Luc Mélénchon, third in the first round of the presidential election, urged his voters not to vote for far-right Marine Le Pen that day. “You don’t have to vote for Le Pen” repeated several times the representative of the left Mélenchon in an intervention after the first results became known.
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In 2017, at 39, he became the youngest French leader since Napoleon.
Macron promised full employment within five years, one tax cut per year for households and businesses, and funding from a gradual increase in the retirement age from 62 to 65.
Regarding defense, he stated that he would increase military spending in view of greater independence from France, especially in the context of the Russian invasion.
In the field of energy he proposes building six nuclear reactors, while in the field of education he wants universities to be more independent.
Marine Le Pen: ‘Renew’ the Far Right
Le Pen has been a familiar face in French public life for a decade, when she first tried to run for president.
Led by Marine Le Pen, the Front National expelled her father in 2015 after a series of comments downplaying the Holocaust. Since then, the also a lawyer and former MEP has worked to renew the radical image of what is now called the national association.
A few weeks ago, the National Group expressed its preference for reforming the European Union “from within”, especially after the rise of other far-right leaders in the region. He contrasts patriotism with globalization and advocates a reduction in immigration.
She also wants to ban the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in public spaces.
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- France will conduct the decisive vote on April 24th and the new government period will begin on May 13th.
- Le Pen and Macron faced each other in the second ballot in 2017.
- In this European country, the president can only seek immediate re-election once, and each term lasts five years. Should Macron win, he would be the first president in 20 years to retake office.