Presidential election in France: Wearing in on April 24th
In the first round of the presidential election, incumbent Macron ended up ahead of right-wing populist Le Pen. Before the run-off, both swear in their supporters – and vie for votes from the losing candidates.
He lists them all – in an exhibition hall in the south-west of Paris. The defeated candidates. “Thank you for applauding them,” said the winner of the first round, who was able to pull away more than predicted. Intended as a gesture of respect, it was more like Macron showing everyone off.
He swore to his compatriots: “The only project for purchasing power is ours. On April 24th we can vote for hope, France and Europe together! I’m counting on you!” His supporters cheer: “Macron – Président!”
Recommendations for Le Pen
“We will win!” countered the sympathizers of the right-wing politician Marine Le Pen. In a pavilion in the Parc Floral, a flower park in the south-east of the capital, she says with a resolute smile: “Your vote will determine what place we give people in the face of the power of money. I’m thinking of solidarity with the most vulnerable. I put it everywhere Restore France’s sovereignty, the freedom of the French to make their own decisions. I will control immigration and guarantee security for all.”
After the election is before the election: recommendations were made in the evening. One for Le Pen too. “You’re faced with a man who let two million migrants into the country, a man who would make it even worse if he were re-elected. I’m not wrong about the opponent,” said the publicist, who is even further to the right Eric Zemmour. He got about seven percent of the votes.
block to the right
The others are blocking against the right: like the candidates of the once big popular parties – the conservative Valérie Pecresse and the socialist Anne Hidalgo, who brought in an almost humiliating result with around five and two percent respectively. “So that France does not fall into hatred of everyone against everyone, I call on you in all seriousness to use the ballot for Emmanuel Macron on April 24,” says Hidalgo.
That’s what Pécresse intends to do and she justifies it: “Marine Le Pen’s project will lead France to discord, powerlessness and failure. Her historical closeness to Vladimir Putin discredits her. Her election would wipe out France on the international and European stage.”
Academics like Alain Chouraqui, who heads the foundation of the former internment camp “Camp of the Thousands,” are already warning from historical experience: “We’re stuck in a spiral and in France we’re at the point where a slide into an authoritarian regime is possible.”
Duel like five years ago
“The duel” was the headline in the newspaper “Les Echos”. Political expert Christophe Barbier recalls five years ago. Same minds, Macron the victor. “We are heading for revenge. Five years ago, Macron had two reserves: the votes of the Socialists and the Greens, as they do now. But the Conservatives had 20 percent at the time, of which only a quarter is left. The cat is skinny!”
The more than 20 percent of the left wing man Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the number one of the young voters, should be decisive for the election. He called out the motto: No vote for Le Pen and painted a gloomy picture: “One has the feeling of having gotten into an ecological, social and now also political state of emergency.”
Politics professor Dominique Reynié does another calculation: “66 percent of those eligible to vote did not turn up or voted for candidates who reject our political system. Macron appears as if he is on an island in the ocean of protest. A more violent society is emerging, which is threatening its conflicts can no longer be solved peacefully, for example in elections.” The time leading up to the runoff election could give a foretaste.
