What binds them is the intention to vote for Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right candidate, who seems to have successfully smoothed out the hardest edges of her image as a proto-fascist bigot and has reached an impressive level of the presidency. “Marin Le Pen’s vote in 2022 has nothing to do with racism or fascism,” said Nathan Gazzoli, a 19-year-old Toulouse-based student and first-time voter. “It’s a people’s vote.” While most polls suggest incumbent President Emanuel Macron narrowly won the vote, a stunning poll by Atlas Politico on Thursday found that Le Pen, the heir to the far-right National Front founded by her father, Jean-Marie Marne, was outnumbered. by 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent in a hypothetical second round match. The French are heading to the polls on Sunday for the first round of elections, which come at a particularly critical time in European history, with Russia waging war on Ukraine and the world emerging from a two-year pandemic. Ms. Le Pen, who has been campaigning aggressively across France – even abroad – for months, initially raised doubts when she changed her rhetoric away from immigration and cultural issues, which were at the heart of her father’s political platform. and focused on economic issues such as inflation, purchasing power and retirement age. Her extreme speeches were made more by Jeremy Corbin than by Victor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister whom he considers a close ally. “If the issue of purchasing power is strangling you today, it is because your previous politicians have impoverished you, made public finances collapse and even put our children in debt for a long time,” Ms Lepen told a crowd. in the southern city of Perpignan this week. This change is now justified, as its party, the Rassemblement National, is ready to perform better than ever in its 50-year history. “I believe in France,” she told The European Conservative in an interview this week. “I dedicate every second of my life to the happiness of the French people, which is the first priority in all my battles.” Marine Le Pen posing for a photo during a campaign visit to a market in Dunkirk, northern France, March 12, 2022 (AFP via Getty) Although Ms. Le Pen is still behind Macron in all but one poll, she has made significant ground in recent weeks, with the French clearly volatile in their voting intentions. In opinion polls conducted just a week before the election, a third of the electorate said they could change their mind and reject the candidate they preferred. Both the left and the right of the political spectrum are crowded, while Mr. Macron is the undisputed champion of the centers. “It’s important to me [is] to go and convince people who are tempted by extremes that extremes do not give the right answer. “People’s fears are sometimes legitimate, but the real answer is different and sometimes it can take time,” Macron said in a radio interview earlier this week. Macron has seen his lead in opinion polls weaken since March, having lost favor in the face of conservative proposals such as raising the retirement age to 65, lowering inheritance tax and tightening access to social benefits. The president has also criticized some voters who believe he has focused more on diplomacy over Ukraine than on domestic issues. Macron said Friday that he regretted entering the presidential race late, explaining that he did so because of Vladimir Putin’s war. Macron poses before a live interview in the studio of the French private radio station RTL in Neuilly-sur-Seine, April 8, 2022 (AFP via Getty) Turnout on Sunday, meanwhile, is expected to be low, with a poll showing 30 per cent of voters could abstain. But that could change as alarm bells ring for Mrs Le Pen, who’s name, along with that of her father, continues to be a source of shock and ridicule in some parts of France. A second and decisive round between the two winners of Sunday’s elections is scheduled for April 24. Much will depend on the young voters and whether they show up on Sunday. In last year’s regional elections, 87% of them chose not to vote. And while presidential elections are generally more exciting, some studies predict that up to half of the youth electorate may be absent. “More than half of my class does not intend to vote this Sunday,” said Mr Gazzoli. “This hurts me because I believe that voting is not just a right but also an obligation. We are asked to help decide our future. “ Until a few weeks ago, Mr Macron, a 41-year-old former investment banker, seemed to be sailing for an easy second-round victory. But he has been embroiled in a catastrophic time scandal involving hundreds of millions of euros being paid to consulting firms to advise the state on the Covid crisis. Macron defended his government, but the epic has provoked criticism from the right and left, reinforcing the view that he is an unknown elitist who focuses more on the interests of the super-rich than on the interests of the ordinary French. “He stigmatizes and despises the unions, saying that, in the classrooms, there are teachers who do the ‘minimal trade union’ versus the teachers who do more,” said Janik Jadot, the Green Party candidate on Thursday, according to Le Monde. . “I find it a shame.” The failure of the left-wing candidates to unite under one candidate has benefited both Mr Macron and Ms Lepen. A man walks past posters of Macron and Le Pen’s presidential campaign in Angle, south-west France, April 8, 2022 (AP) Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the far-left La France Insoumise, has also risen in opinion polls in recent weeks, but not enough to reach the second round. He also campaigned on economic issues and tried to address the daily concerns of voters, but was backed by candidates from the Socialist, Green and Communist parties. Mr Gazzoli says many of his peers are left-wing and are often called fascists and racists because he is a supporter of Le Pen. He is not a fan of far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, who posed a serious threat to Le Pen earlier in the campaign but has recently plummeted in opinion polls. “Zemmour is talking about a big game about security and immigration, but if you want to run the country, that’s not enough,” said Gazzoli. “Marin Le Pen was very smart in talking about both safety and cost of living,” she told the Independent. “He has spent a lot of time talking to the elderly who are having a hard time coping.” A victory for Mrs Le Pen or, less likely, Mr Melanson would have far-reaching geopolitical implications for a country that is the EU’s second largest economy, even though the French parliament would be able to curb their ambitions. Ms Lepen is said to owe millions of euros to banks run by Kremlin-linked oligarchs and has spoken out against the European Union and NATO. Mr Melenchon, on the other hand, “is basically so anti-American, he supported all the dictatorships that were anti-American,” Jadot said. Mr Gazzoli predicts that both far-right voters and left-wing supporters will rally around Le Pen in the second round. “What we have in common with the left is that we all agree that another five years of Macron would be a disaster,” he said. “[Ms Le Pen] it has never been closer to victory. “ Gert Van Langendock contributed to this report
