France’s Macron Faces a Divided Nation After Election Win
PARIS (Dispatches) - French President Emmanuel Macron faced the daunting challenge of uniting a deeply divided nation after winning re-election in a battle against Marine Le Pen that saw the far right come its closest yet to taking power.
Centrist Macron won 58.54 percent of the vote in the second-round run-off compared with 41.46 for Le Pen, according to final results from the interior ministry.
Macron is the first French president in two decades to win a second term and his victory prompted a sigh of relief throughout Europe.
But his win over his far-right rival was narrower than their last face-off in 2017, when Macron won more than 66 percent. Le Pen’s result this time around was the best ever for the far right.
Macron acknowledged some of the challenges he now faces in his victory speech Sunday night in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“Our country is beset by doubts and divisions,” he said. “Today’s vote requires us to consider all the hardships of people’s lives and to respond effectively to them and to the anger expressed.”
Macron also has to contend with an energized far left, many of whom backed far-leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round and voted for the incumbent in the final round only to stop a far-right victory.
Turnout was the lowest in any presidential election second-round run-off since 1969 and, in another striking sign of disenchantment with politics, 8.6 percent of people who showed up to vote either submitted a blank or nullified ballot in protest.
French daily Le Monde called Macron’s win “an evening of victory without a triumph”.
Conservative daily Le Figaro said Macron’s win was “no mean feat” but also asked: “Who can possibly believe that it is rooted in popular support?”
Within the next two weeks Macron is expected to reshuffle his government, with the departure of Prime Minister Jean Castex a near certainty, and several other ministers also likely to be replaced.
“Many in government are exhausted and he needs new blood,” said one Élysée official who asked not to be named.
Macron Pelted With Tomatoes on Paris Walkabout
At his first public appearance since his re-election, Emmanuel Macron was met with anger by residents of the French capital’s suburb, APA reports citing Express.
The President renewed his commitment to listen to all voters after he won the presidential election against Marine Le Pen. But as he walked through a crowd, protesters threw tomatoes at him.
He said: “I have come to say that I have heard the voices of each and everyone and that I will continue to be engaged with the neighborhoods that are most in difficulty, in all the territories of our Republic that are most in difficulty, every day.”
A security umbrella was briefly deployed to protect the president from “projectiles” as he strolled through a market in the Saint-Christophe district.