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PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron is in the pole position to win reelection on Sunday in the country’s presidential runoff, yet his lead over far-right rival Marine Le Pen depends on one major uncertainty: voters who could decide to stay home. A Macron victory in this vote — which could have farreaching repercussions for Europe’s future direction and Western efforts to stop the war in Ukraine — would make him the first French president in 20 years to win a second term.
All opinion polls in recent days converge toward a win for the 44-year-old pro-European centrist — yet the margin over his nationalist rival varies broadly, from 6 to 15 percentage points, depending on the poll. Polls also forecast a possibly record-high number of people who will either cast a blank vote or not vote at all. Overseas French territories allowed voters to start casting ballots on Saturday.
France’s April 10 first-round vote eliminated 10 other candidates, and who becomes the country’s next leaderwill largely depend on what supporters of those losing candidates do on Sunday.
The question is a hard one, especially for leftist voters who dislike Macron but don’t want to see Le Pen in power either. Macron issued appeals to leftist voters in recent days in hopes of securing their support. “Think about what British citizens were saying a few ho- urs before Brexit or (people) in the US before Trump’s election happened: ‘I’m not going, what’s the point?’ I can tell you that they regretted it the next day,” Macron warned this week on France 5 TV. “So if you want to avoid the unthinkable. . . choose for yourself!” he urged hesitant French voters.
The two rivals were combative in the final days before Sunday’s election, clashing on Wednesday in a one-on-one debate. Macron argued that the loan Le Pen’s far-right party received in 2014 from a Czech-Russian bank made her unsuitable to deal with Moscow amid its invasion of Ukraine. He also said her plans to ban Muslim women in France from wearing headscarves in public would trigger “civil war” in the country that has the largest Muslim population in western Europe.
Le Pen’s campaign has sought to appeal to voters struggling with surging food and energy prices amid the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The 53-year-old candidate said bringing down the cost of living would be a top priority if she was elected as France’s first woman president. She criticised Macron’s “calamitous” presidency in her rally in the town of Arras. “I’m not even mentioning immigration or security for which, I believe, every French person can only note the failure of Macron’s policies . . . his economic record is also catastrophic,” she declared.
All opinion polls in recent days converge toward a win for the 44-year-old pro-European centrist — yet the margin over his nationalist rival varies broadly, from 6 to 15 percentage points, depending on the poll. Polls also forecast a possibly record-high number of people who will either cast a blank vote or not vote at all. Overseas French territories allowed voters to start casting ballots on Saturday.
France’s April 10 first-round vote eliminated 10 other candidates, and who becomes the country’s next leaderwill largely depend on what supporters of those losing candidates do on Sunday.
The question is a hard one, especially for leftist voters who dislike Macron but don’t want to see Le Pen in power either. Macron issued appeals to leftist voters in recent days in hopes of securing their support. “Think about what British citizens were saying a few ho- urs before Brexit or (people) in the US before Trump’s election happened: ‘I’m not going, what’s the point?’ I can tell you that they regretted it the next day,” Macron warned this week on France 5 TV. “So if you want to avoid the unthinkable. . . choose for yourself!” he urged hesitant French voters.
The two rivals were combative in the final days before Sunday’s election, clashing on Wednesday in a one-on-one debate. Macron argued that the loan Le Pen’s far-right party received in 2014 from a Czech-Russian bank made her unsuitable to deal with Moscow amid its invasion of Ukraine. He also said her plans to ban Muslim women in France from wearing headscarves in public would trigger “civil war” in the country that has the largest Muslim population in western Europe.
Le Pen’s campaign has sought to appeal to voters struggling with surging food and energy prices amid the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The 53-year-old candidate said bringing down the cost of living would be a top priority if she was elected as France’s first woman president. She criticised Macron’s “calamitous” presidency in her rally in the town of Arras. “I’m not even mentioning immigration or security for which, I believe, every French person can only note the failure of Macron’s policies . . . his economic record is also catastrophic,” she declared.
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