Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen Through to Runoff
Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are set to face each other in a May 7 runoff for the French presidency after coming first and second in the first round of voting.
In a race that was too close to call up to the last minute, Mr Macron, a pro-European Union ex-banker and economy minister who founded his own party only a year ago, won the first round with roughly 24 per cent of the vote.
Ms Le Pen, leader of the antiimmigration and anti-EU National Front, came in second with 22 per cent. Conservative candidate Francois Fillon and far-left contender Jean-Luc Melenchon both came up with roughly 20 per cent, meaning they were eliminated from the presidential race. The result means that France would see a face-off between politicians with radically contrasting economic visions for a country whose economy lags behind that of its neighbours and where a quarter of young people are unemployed. Crowds of young people, some from anarchist and anti-fascist groups, gathered on the Place de la Bastille in eastern Paris as results were still coming in.
Riot Police surrounded the area and tear gas was fired to disperse the increasingly rowdy crowd. Following early vote counts, Ms Le Pen celebrated the “historic result” with her supporters while vowing to defend France against “rampant globalisation”. ”
The main thing at stake in this election is the rampant globalisation that is endangering our civilisation,” she added, urging French voters to shake off the shackles of an “arrogant elite”.
Shortly after, Mr Macron also addressed his supporters, where he called on all “patriots” to rally behind him against the a “nationalist threat” Mr Macron, whose “En Marche!” party is only one-yearold and had never taken part in any Parliamentary election. He said he would also work on building a Parliament majority to be able to govern after legislative elections in June. He went on to say he would bring in new faces and talent to transform a stale political system if elected.
French politicians on the left and right were quick to urge voters to block Ms Le Pen’s path to power in the May 7 runoff.
This result is historic. It puts on me a huge responsibility to defend the French nation, its unity, its security, its culture, its prosperity and its independence Marine Le Pen Leader of the anti-immigration and anti-EU National Front