Re-elected Macron seeks to unite France

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron sought to unite a deeply divided nation yesterday after winning re-election in a battle against rival Marine Le Pen that saw the far right come its closest yet to taking power.

Centrist Macron won 58.54% 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 that the far right had again been thwarted from taking power in the key European Union state.

But his latest victory over his rival was narrower than their last face-off in 2017 when Macron won over 66%, and Le Pen’s result was the best ever for the far right.

Addressing supporters in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower on Sunday night, Macron vowed to heal rifts in a deeply divided country.

“From now on, I am not the candidate of one camp, but everybody’s president.

“An answer must be found to the anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the extreme right.”

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% of people who voted either delivered a blank ballot or spoilt their papers.

The 44-year-old president now faces the challenge of parliamentary elections in June, where keeping a majority will be critical for his ambitions.

In a sign of roadblocks ahead, two polls published on Sunday showed that most voters do not wish for him to also carry the parliamentary vote.

French daily Le Monde called

Macron’s win “an evening of victory without a triumph”, while left-leaning Liberation called it “a victory without the glory”.

Conservative daily Le Figaro said after all the challenges of his first term, Macron’s win was “no mean feat”, but also asked: “Who can possibly believe that it is rooted in popular support?”

For Le Pen, her third defeat in a presidential poll was a bitter pill after years of effort at making herself electable.

On Sunday, the 53-year-old said she would “never abandon” the French and was already preparing for the June legislative elections.