According to the forecast by broadcaster France 2 on Sunday at 23:00, Macron received around 58.8% of the votes, Le Pen only 41.2%. Macron’s victory must be understood primarily as Le Pen’s defeat. Le Pen admitted defeat. There were whistles and boos from his voting center when the results were announced. After the first round of the elections, several parties called for the construction of a wall against the right and that President Le Pen, who despite her decidedly more moderate behavior still takes extreme right positions, be prevented from voting for Macron.
The 44-year-old also benefited from a desire for stability in light of the war in Ukraine. However, many French people are unhappy with Macron’s first term and consider his political style arrogant. Parliamentary elections are already in June, and it is currently considered very unlikely that Macron will be able to win either. This means that he and the country are threatened with cohabitation, which means that the executive president and the head of government belong to different parties.
Reuters/Benoit Tessier Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron: Visibly resolved after electoral success
humility and great promises
About two hours after the election ended and the projections were announced, Macron spoke for the first time. He announced that he wanted to position France as a leader in the fight against the climate crisis. Macron stressed that the anger of those who voted for Le Pen must be taken seriously. The next five years would not be a continuation of his first five years of reign. At the same time, the liberal market politician also announced stronger social policy, as propagated by Le Pen and the leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, albeit in a different form. Macron promised that no one would be left behind.
“I know that many of our fellow citizens voted for me today to stop the ideas of right-wing extremists and not to support mine,” the 44-year-old humbly said in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to applause from supporters. “I know your vote commits me for years to come.”
Referring to the French who voted for his right-wing nationalist competitor Le Pen in the second round, Macron said: “The anger and dissent that made you vote for this bill must also find an answer. That will be my responsibility and that of those around me.”
debate
Where is France going?
“Difficult” and “Historical” Years
“The coming years will certainly be difficult, but they will be historic ones and together we must write them for the new generations,” said the 44-year-old. Of course, he left open how Macron intends to keep those promises in the face of runaway inflation, the worsening climate crisis, a deep political divide in the country and the international turmoil surrounding the war in Ukraine.
A sigh of relief in Europe
Macron’s election victory should come as a huge relief to Germany and Europe, even if the charismatic liberal is by no means the ideal partner everywhere. His opponent wanted to break the close cooperation with Germany that had been going on for decades.
EU Council President Charles Michel expressed his relief at Macron’s re-election. “We can count on France for another five years,” the Belgian tweeted on Sunday night. “In these turbulent times, we need a strong Europe and a France that is fully committed to a more sovereign and strategic European Union.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola also congratulated Macron on Twitter.
Several European heads of state and government, from Olaf Scholz to Mario Draghi and Boris Johnson, to Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and ÖVP Chancellor Karl Nehammer, congratulated Macron and stressed that they were looking forward to continuing close cooperation for Europe.
For our common European future in peace and unity – my warmest congratulations @EmmanuelMacron for his re-election as President of France! (vdb)
— A. Van der Bellen (@vanderbellen) April 24, 2022
Eurosceptic nationalist Le Pen was striving to decisively contain the European Union’s influence in France and could have stopped several projects in Brussels out of self-interest. Last but not least, his closeness to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has fueled concerns that the West’s solid pro-Ukraine front could crumble under Le Pen.
Cornelia Primosch on Macron’s re-election
President Macron won re-election – even if it was far more controversial than when he was elected. At that time he also won much more clearly with 66 to 34 percent. What does this mean for political France? Cornelia Primosch, a correspondent for the ZIB, analyzed.
Le Pen sees resounding success
Le Pen tried to convert the recent electoral defeat into a start to the campaign for parliamentary elections in June, on election night. She would not give up and warned her supporters that there was a “danger” of Macron winning another parliamentary election.
According to early polls, Le Pen comes in at around 42% to 43%. This result is a “sounding victory,” she said, referring to the result from five years ago. At that time, she had lost to Macron by almost 34%.
Melenchon: Election campaign is underway
Like Le Pen, left-wing politician Melenchon, who narrowly missed out on entering the second round, emphasized that the campaign for parliamentary elections began immediately. Addressing those who did not vote for Macron or who voted reluctantly, Melenchon said that “there is still a way to beat Macron in the June general election”. Incumbent Emmanuel “Macron is the lowest-scoring president of the Fifth Republic,” said Melenchon. “He’s surfing a sea of non-voters and abstentions,” he said.
He called Le Pen’s defeat “good news for the unity of our country”. Melenchon reiterated his desire to become prime minister and called on his supporters to campaign for the general election. “Another world is still possible,” he said.
Leonie Heitz on the atmosphere in the Le Pens warehouse
Leonie Heitz reports from Marine Le Pen’s electoral headquarters. After the disappointing defeat, is her political career expected to end there – or will Marine Le Pen now feel spurred on to take further political steps?
Far-right Eric Zemmour, on the other hand, criticized Le Pen for his defeat and called for a united nationalist bloc for parliamentary elections.
Celebrations and tear gas
Macron’s supporters celebrated his re-election. Hundreds of people waved French and European flags and danced on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris to electronic music from a DJ. In the central district of Chatelet, protesters frustrated with the election result clashed with police, some of whom used tear gas.
AP/François Mori Le Pen sees his recent defeat as a victory
Le Pen loses second duel against Macron
In 2017, the then political star Macron and the right-wing Le Pen faced off in the second round of the presidential election. At that time, however, Le Pen was much more clearly inferior to her opponent – she only got a third of the votes.
Macron, who relied on economic progress during the election campaign, managed to enter the Élysée Palace in 2017 with his movement La Republique en Marche. Once a more left-wing candidate, he now increasingly represents liberal-conservative issues. Before becoming president, the northern Frenchman worked as an investment banker, advised Socialist President François Hollande and was Minister of Economy from 2014 to 2016.