President Macron Wins Second Term

 

In this recent French presidential election, something relatively rare happened: the incumbent president won the election. That means that he will have another five years in office, having won with 58.8 percent of the vote.  

The defeated candidate, far-right wing extremist Marine Le Pen, received 41.2 percent of the vote. It was a significant improvement over the general election results in 2017, when these same two faced off against one another. Back then, Macron won easily, collecting about 66 percent of the vote, to about 33 for Le Pen, for a two to one margin.  

Still, garnering less than 42 percent of the vote this time around is clearly not enough. To be sure, it is an improvement from the last election. And reaching the second round of a presidential race for a second straight election is an impressive feat that put Le Pen and her National Rally at the forefront of current French politics. But it also assured that Macron will now get that a second term in office.  

The choice in this general election was between Macron, the centrist who leans more to the right, versus the far right extremist Le Pen. Like in the United States, it seems like politics in France has, at least temporarily, swung to the right, and the final two choices have left something to be desired for those leaning left in their politics.  

That said, it should be noted that Melanchon came in third and was the only other candidate to garner over 20 percent of the vote in the first round of elections. After Macron secured a second term with this election win, Melanchon declared his commitment to focus on the upcoming legislation election, in hopes of keeping Macron and his party in check y preventing them from obtaining too much power.  

In his address to the people after securing the election win, Macron said that he was the president of all the French people, and vowed to bring the country together. He also acknowledged that he understood that many people voted for him not out of any enthusiasm for him or his policies, but rather simply to stop the rise of Le Pen, who remains a controversial and polarizing figure in France. Many believe that her rise also betrays a spike in xenophobia and racism in France. In short, she is almost France’s answer to Donald Trump.  

Most people seem to expect that Macron’s second term will not hold any real surprises, that it will look very similar to his first term in office. Let’s see what happens.