Broad front against Marine Le Pen

After the first round of the French presidential election, all eyes are on the runoff. Incumbent Emmanuel Macron has a good chance of winning the second round in two weeks’ time after receiving 27.6 percent of the vote on Sunday. In a speech to his supporters in Paris, however, the liberal politician warned that nothing had been won. The debates in the next two weeks are crucial for France and Europe. What is needed now is a “movement of unity and action”.

With regard to the voters of his competitor, Marine Le Pen, who also qualified for the runoff with 23.4 percent, Macron said that his program alone offered answers to citizens’ concerns and the challenges of the present. He alone could also stop the loss of purchasing power. Le Pen had made this issue, which is currently of particular concern to the French in view of rising energy prices, the focus of their election campaign.

Her result was greeted with jubilation by her supporters in the evening. In a speech, Le Pen called on left and right to rally behind her. She will be the president of all French, she assured. She wants to heal the multiple fractures in France and restore order. The election was a success for the right-wing nationalist candidate. Le Pen, who is running for the highest state office for the third time, achieved her best result to date.

Le Pen also surpassed her father Jean-Marie, who became the first far-right candidate to make it into the runoff in 2002 with 16.9 percent. In order to win, the candidate of the Rassemblement national will have to win more votes than the other right-wing candidates, who add up to just over 12 percent. The big question after the first round will be who the voters of the losing candidates will choose in the runoff.

The Republican front against Le Pen holds

Despite Marine Le Pen’s efforts to present a more moderate image, numerous politicians from left and right opposed the RN candidate. This time, too, the “front républicain”, as the democratic parties close ranks against the extreme right in France, seemed to hold their own. Alongside the Green Yannick Jadot and the communist Fabien Roussel, third-placed Jean-Luc Mélenchon called on the French not to vote for Le Pen.

The left-wing politician attributed the fact that he again just missed out on the run-off election with 22 percent to the electoral system of the Fifth Republic. He understands the anger of his followers, but they shouldn’t be discouraged, he told them in a speech. As in the myth of Sisyphus, they would now have to roll the stone back up the mountain. However, the 70-year-old announced before the election that he would not run again in five years if he lost the election.

Mélenchon performed particularly well in the Ile-de-France capital region. There he ended up in first place with 30.2 percent, just ahead of Macron. Le Pen, on the other hand, dominated in the rural regions of the south-west and in the old industrial areas of the north-east. Mélenchon’s voters are likely to struggle in the runoff, as many are likely to dislike Macron as well as Le Pen. Post-election polls predicted a close race.

Historic debacle for the established parties

The election was a historic debacle for the major established parties of the left and right, which shaped the politics of the republic with François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy just a few years ago. Both practically sank into insignificance: Valérie Pécresse, the candidate of the conservative Les Républicains, ended up in fifth place with 4.8 percent. Socialist Anne Hidalgo only managed tenth place with 1.7 percent.

Both politicians spoke out in favor of Macron. In order to prevent the French from falling into “the hatred of everyone against everyone”, Hidalgo said they were calling on them to vote against Le Pen in the runoff. Pécresse announced that he would vote for Macron to prevent “the chaos” that a Le Pen victory would bring. While she cannot control the votes of her constituents, she urges everyone to carefully consider the consequences of electing Le Pen.

Zemmour disappoints and admits mistakes

Eric Zemmour, on the other hand, called for Le Pen to vote, as expected. The far-right journalist and commentator caused a stir at the beginning of the election campaign with his candidacy. In October, he reached 18 percent in the polls, but then lost ground. Although he was able to inspire his supporters at his rallies, he scared off many voters in the bourgeois camp with his radical positions and constant new polemics.

In the end it was just enough for 7 percent. In a Sunday night performance, Zemmour admitted mistakes, but took the two million votes he received as proof his message had been heard. Despite the differences he has with Le Pen, he calls for her election. Macron brought two million migrants into the country during his tenure and said not a word about security and immigration during the election campaign, criticized Zemmour.

It is also a choice about Europe

Much will now depend on voter turnout. In the first round, it was 74 percent, the lowest it has been since 2002. At the time, Jean-Marie Le Pen surprisingly made it into the runoff – also because many supporters of conservative President Jacques Chirac did not think it was necessary to go to the polls. This time, too, some of Macron’s voters stayed away from the polls, expecting that it would be enough for their candidate. But many of them will probably vote in the second round.

In Europe, the runoff will be followed closely. Macron is a staunch European, while Le Pen is a staunch opponent of the European project. She has also shown sympathy for Russia’s authoritarian President Vladimir Putin in the past. Their victory would put France on course for confrontation with Brussels. It has given up the goal of leaving the EU and returning to the franc. But their call to put French law above European law is a direct attack on the very essence of the EU.