“The majority has chosen to trust me for another 5 years: I am no longer the president of a party but I am the president of all and all”. With these words the French president Emmanuel Macron greeted his supporters at the Champ de Mars, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, after learning that he was re-elected, according to the first exit polls, with 58.55 per cent of the votes (i.e. 18.7 million votes), while the challenger Marine Le Pen it would have collected 41.45 per cent of the votes (13.29 million votes). The abstention reached a record figure of 13.6 million French, 28.01 per cent: it is the highest figure since 1969. “The anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the far right they force us to find an answer “, he added, announcing that” it will be our responsibility and our project. We must respond effectively to the anger that has been expressed ».
Presidential elections in France, Macron’s speech after the victory: “I will respond to the anger of the country”
Macron arrived at the Eiffel Tower at around 9.30pm where thousands of his supporters await him to celebrate his re-election as leader of France. With him, the main advisors who fine-tuned his speech until the last minute at the Elysée, and the première dame, his wife Brigitte. And from the stage he said that with him «France will be a great ecological nation» which «will have to show the clarity of his choices and illustrate the path he has chosen to take. And – he added – dear friends we will also have to be very careful and respectful because our country is full of doubts and divisions: but nothing will be left aside ».
Then, addressing those who voted for him, he said: «I know that many compatriots voted for me to block the ideas of the far right. I want to thank them and tell them that I am aware that this vote binds me for years to come. I am the guardian of their attachment to the Republic ».
Satisfaction with Macron’s result was expressed by the president of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyenwhich in a tweet he wrote: «Dear Emmanuel Macron, my congratulations on your election to the presidency of the Republic. I am looking forward to continuing our excellent cooperation. Together we will carry France and Europe forward ». For the leader of Rassemblement National, who in any case speaks of a “historic result”, tonight’s “is the testimony of a great distrust of the French people.”
Elections in France, the defeat Le Pen: “Our result is testimony to the distrust of the French people”
Supporters of the president
At the Campo di Marte, location chosen by Macron for the election evening, hundreds of supporters have already arrived, waving flags of France and the EU. They crowded in front of the stage set up in the middle of the gardens. The American embassy in Paris has warned its fellow citizens that after 8 pm, throughout France, there could be rallies that risk becoming “violent” with clashes with the police. Macron’s staff specified that fans will be at most 3,000 when the re-nominated president arrives for the speech, expected at around 9.15 pm.
Election day
The polling stations opened this morning at 8 am and in large cities, such as Paris, Marseille, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon and Nice, they remained open until 8 pm. The turnout at 5 pm was 63.23%. Over two points less than in 2017.
All French citizens over the age of 18 registered on the electoral roll could vote in the ballot. In all 48.7 million people, 1.4 million of whom reside abroad. Even those who were positive for Covid-19 could assert their right as a citizen. The health protocol developed by the government provided that voters could not be asked for proof of vaccination or a negative test certificate.
In the afternoon, the results of four opinion polls conducted by French institutes and cited by The Free Belgium according to which the outgoing president was clearly ahead with 55-58% of the vote, while the challenger Marine Le Pen collected between 42 and 45% of the votes.
The five thousand French voters residing in Shanghai were unable to vote even in the second round of the presidential elections, just as they were unable to vote in the first round two weeks ago, due to the ongoing lockdown. The metropolis has been completely closed since the beginning of April, due to the spread of Covid-19 and the authorities have therefore decided, according to the French press, not to open the voting offices.
Previous
Emmanuel Macron, with the second presidential term, enters a very small circle of French presidents who have had the trust of their compatriots twice in a row. Before him Charles De Gaulle was elected twice to the presidency, on January 8, 1959 and January 8, 1966, he did not complete his second term and resigned on April 28, 1969. Then it was the turn of Francois Mitterrand elected on the 21st. May 1981 and May 21, 1988, mandate completed with the election in May 1995 of Jacques Chirac, who was also re-elected for the second time on May 17, 2002.
While the French far right, with 41.8% of the vote, equal to over 13 million votes, achieved a historic record of preferences in a presidential election. The newspaper underlines this The worldbased on Ipsos’ projections.
The vote of the two candidates
The outgoing French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife Brigitte voted simultaneously in their polling station in Le Touquet, in northern France. Upon leaving the house and arriving at the polling station, Macron, accompanied by Brigitte and surrounded by dozens of cameras, allowed himself to hundreds of supporters who greeted him by shaking his hand, hugging him, kissing him and taking selfies next to him. Two real crowds, as it was for Le Pen shortly before (in both cases the shadow of an anti-Covid mask was not seen, a sign that the epidemic is now considered behind in France).
Macron then had lunch with his family in the same location, where he spends the weekend on the occasion of the elections. In the afternoon he returned to Paris, to the Elysée, to follow the results of the first exit polls. Marine Le Pen instead voted in her polling station in Henin-Beaumont, in the department of Pas-de-Calais, the same as in Macron. The Rassemblement National candidate got over 35% of the votes in these lands in the first round of the presidential elections: it’s her fiefdom. Under the sun, she arrived surrounded by journalists, also indulging her supporters, who welcomed her with encouragement, kisses and hugs. The nationalist leader then had lunch with the mayor of this northern French town, Steve Briois, and another deputy friend. Le Pen also returned to Paris and after a brief visit to the headquarters she went to the location chosen for the election evening, in the sixteenth arrondissement of the capital, precisely to the Bois de Boulogne.
The print
1,300 journalists and cameramen from 44 countries are accredited to follow Emmanuel Macron’s election evening at the Campo di Marte, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Two hundred accredited televisions. The line to enter the structure set up for the press in these gardens, which are one of the symbolic places of the Revolution, is about 300 meters long.
Controls are extremely strict, with dog units and searches. The area is fully manned by thousands of law enforcement agencies. Dozens of cars left parked in the off-limits area were taken away.