The poll’s forecasts and the partial official vote count showed that France is repeating the second round of 2017 that made Macron the country’s youngest president – but without any guarantee this time that the result will be the same. Addressing his supporters, who shouted “another five years”, Macron warned that “nothing has happened” and said that the next two weeks of the campaign for the second round on April 24 would be “crucial for our country and for Europe”. “It’s not us,” he said, adding that Le Pen would align France with “populists and xenophobes”. “I want to address everyone who wants to work for France,” he said. He vowed to “carry out the work of progress, of the French and European openness and independence that we have advocated.” A screen shows French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen at its headquarters on election day in Paris on Sunday, April 10, 2022. François Mori / AP The election result will have a wide international impact as Europe struggles to contain the devastation caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Macron has strongly supported European Union sanctions on Russia, while Le Pen is concerned about their impact on French living standards. Macron is also a staunch supporter of NATO and close co-operation between the 27 members of the European Union. With two-thirds of the vote counted, Macron and Le Pen had easily slipped away from hard-line left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melanson in the second round of two candidates in third place. Macron, a 44-year-old political centrist, won a landslide victory five years ago, but is preparing for a much tougher run-off against his 53-year-old political enemy. Le Pen promises seismic change for France – both domestically and internationally – if elected the country’s first female president. Macron has been rumored for months to become France’s first president in 20 years to win a second term. But the leader of the National Rally Le Pen, in a late rise, raised the main issue in the minds of many French voters: rising costs for food, gas and heating due to rising inflation and the impact of Western sanctions on Russia. Emanuel Macron addresses the voters after leading in the first round at the polls on April 10, 2022 in Paris, France. AurelienMeunier2019 / Getty Images Poll predictions put both Macron and Le Pen to improve their performances in the first round of 2017, underlining how French politics has become increasingly polarized. Macron was expected to gain a significant lead in the first round with support of about 28%, ahead of the 23% -24% of the votes predicted by Le Pen. Melenchon was credited with about 20% support. Both Macron and Lepen must now reach out to voters who backed the 10 presidential candidates who lost on Sunday to win the second round. Le Pen seemed to be targeting Melecon’s left-wing supporters in particular, promising “social justice” and corrections for “a France that is falling apart”. “The French honored me with my qualification in the second round,” said Lepen. Her supporters celebrated with champagne and interrupted her speech with voices “We will win!” However, some of her defeated opponents were so worried about Lepen’s chances of winning Macron that they urged their supporters on Sunday to transfer their votes in the second round to the incumbent. Addressing supporters who sometimes wept, Melanson repeatedly said, “We must not vote for Ms. Le Pen.” Describing herself as “deeply concerned”, the defeated Conservative candidate Valerie Pecresse warned of “the chaos that would follow” if Le Pen were elected, saying the far-right leader had never been so close to power. Pekres said she would vote for Macron in the second round. French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen speaks during an election night election after the first round of voting on April 10, 2022 in Paris, France. LOUZ DELMOT / Getty Images Polls show that only a few percentage points could separate known enemies in the second round. The second round is likely to be much more confrontational than the first round, which was largely overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. After Le Pen left the blue ballot box in the northern city of Henin-Beaumont, she said “given the situation in the country and in the world”, the outcome of the election could determine “not only the next five years, but possibly the next 50 years “in France. In the 27-nation EU, only France has a nuclear arsenal and a veto in the UN Security Council. To beat Le Pen in the second round, Macron must highlight her many years of trying to change her name to make herself look less extreme, a reformation that has even highlighted her love of cats. Macron accused Le Pen of promoting an extremist manifesto of racist, destructive policies. Le Pen wants to abolish certain rights for Muslims, banning them from wearing headscarves and drastically reducing immigration from outside Europe. Her milder image won some voters, but made others even more suspicious. Yves Maillot, a retired engineer, said he voted for Macron only to make up for Le Pen. She said she feared her long-standing hostility to the EU could make her try to pull France out of the bloc, even though she has removed it from her manifesto. “I do not think it has changed at all,” he said. “It’s the same thing, but with cats.”
