French election: Macron’s historic victory but polarising France – BBC News

Le Pen told her supporters that the claims her National Rally represented had reached new heights. But her far-right rival Eric Zemmour pointed out that she, like her father, has failed again, “the eighth failure of the Le Pen surname”.

“Many of our compatriots voted for the far right and must find an answer to their anger and divisions,” Macron said in his victory speech on Sunday night, which would be the responsibility of him and his team.

Macron’s victory has brought relief to EU leaders, who fear the election of the far-right candidate will offer a slew of anti-EU policies. European Commission President von der Leyen said, “We will jointly promote the development of France and Europe.”

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, who had called on French voters to back Macron, congratulated his “true friend” and said he looked forward to a strong and unified Europe.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed Macron’s victory. On April 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping also called Macron to congratulate him on his re-election.

Turnout in the general election was just under 72%, the lowest in the second round of presidential elections since 1969. Combined with more than 3 million invalid or blank ballots, this means that more than one-third of voters did not vote to any candidate. Macron said his government must respond to voters who “rejected their choice” in the general election.

Much of France was on holiday on the day of the vote. The low turnout reflected apathy among voters, who complained that neither candidate represented them. A large percentage of young voters are said to have opted out of the second round.

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was narrowly defeated by Ms Le Pen in the first ballot two weeks ago, slammed both candidates.

He said France’s refusal to trust Le Pen was good news, adding that Macron had been elected worse than any other president, “floating in a sea of ​​abstentions, empty votes and invalid votes”.

In fact, Macron’s re-election was a historic achievement. He is the first sitting president in 20 years to be re-elected.

Macron’s victory speech, chosen on the Champs-Élysées, a highly symbolic location during the French Revolution, told cheering supporters that “no one is left behind”.

The crisis over the rising cost of living for millions of French is at the top of the election, with Macron’s opponents accusing him of being arrogant and president of the rich.

However, Prime Minister Castel told French radio the re-election of President Macron sends a powerful signal at a time when France is going through a huge crisis involving “many differences and a lack of understanding”.

For France’s political leaders, the next task is to regroup for parliamentary elections in June. Although Macron has a tentative majority, the candidates who lost in the first round of elections have their sights set on the next election.

Melenchon has floated the idea of ​​defeating the president’s centrist party and becoming prime minister. And in a speech on Sunday night, Le Pen told supporters that “the race is not quite over”.

BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris

The significance of Macron’s successful re-election has not received enough attention. He is the first ruling president in the history of the Fifth Republic of France to be re-elected.

Yes, there are also presidents who have managed to stay at the Elysee Palace. But François Mitterrand in 1988 and Jacques Chirac in 2002 were both de facto opponents before the election.

As a result of the midterm parliamentary elections, government power under the two presidents, Mitterrand and Chirac, is effectively in the hands of the president’s opponents. While in office Mitterrand and Chirac were politically inept, in turns, they found themselves regaining favor with voters.

As for Charles de Gaulle’s victory in 1965, he was not elected by the people in the first place.

And Macron, who ran all aspects of foreign and domestic policy throughout his term, was able to once again win the trust of the people, the first of all French presidents in modern times.

When you factor in the French’s longstanding relationship with those in power — essentially cheering them on and then kicking them out at the first opportunity — Macron’s achievement is no mean feat.

He used two approaches, the first to make the next five years bright and the second not so good.

The election results show that millions of French middle-class people do not see Macron as a bad president.

Thanks to Macron’s reforms, these people agree that unemployment is no longer a political issue. They also see Macron’s handling of the outbreak competently, and they agree that a delayed retirement is inevitable.

These people also found Macron to be a leader capable of navigating the international stage. They are happy to have someone in the Elysee Palace who can talk directly to Putin, although it doesn’t seem to be working right now.

Under Macron, they argue, France could even play a leadership role in Europe, and Macron’s vision of greater EU military and economic autonomy looks increasingly relevant in the current context. In this respect, the contrast with Le Pen could not be more stark.

These people may not particularly like Macron – he’s too different – but enough have come to respect him.

Macron’s second approach, however, has some problems.

Five years ago, Macron made a brilliant gamble on the political status quo in France.

He straddled the middle, destroyed the old mix of Conservatives and Social Democrats, and used the power implied by de Gaulle’s Fifth Republic to create a highly personal and highly centralized system of government at the Elysee Palace.

The opposition is pushed to the “extremes” on the left and right, where Macron believes the opposition can never pose a real threat. So far, he has been proven right, as the election has shown.

But this election also proved another point: more and more French people are now ready to deal with “extreme”. It is precisely because of Macron’s previous success that if they want to oppose Macron, they have nowhere to go but “extreme”.

Many of those voters — the millions who chose the far-left candidate Mélenchon — now want revenge against Macron in June’s parliamentary elections. But if that doesn’t work, they want an anti-Macron street demonstration in September.

Macron started his second term promising a new government. He will be more of a listener. He knew there were some wounds to heal. The problem is, he has said this before, and now many people don’t believe him at all.

“This election not only shows that there are two opposing Frances out there, it also shows a growing tendency to say the opposing camp is not legitimate,” commentator Natasha Poloni said.

“The past elections are over and people will endorse an all-French president. I’m not sure that’s the case now.”