Macron Wins Another 5 More Years, But Far-right Make Inroads

Macron wins but France deeply divided

After the first round of voting, Emmanuel Macron garnered 28% of the popular vote, while far-right candidate Le-Pen received 23%. To become President, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the votes. Since no candidate reached the 50% requirement, today’s run-off vote decided if France would give Macron another five more years or succumb to being ruled by a far-right candidate with extremists points of view.

Luckily for the people of France and its allies, Macron prevailed. Since the election of the disgraced U.S President Donald Trump, the rise of far-right extremist heads of state has systematically unravelled democracy. Macron’s opponent Le-pen if elected, would have done the same.

A staunch advocate of identity politics and in favour of strong anti-immigration policies, Le-Pen’s second-place finish in the presidential race, indicates how deeply divided the country remains. The 44-year-old Macron won 58.5 per cent of the vote to Le Pen’s 41.5 per cent.

Although Macron’s margin of victory appears to be large, his support actually dropped by almost 10 per cent since the last election. When speaking with the citizens of France, many indicated they were not necessarily voting for Macron based on merit, their vote was more of one against Le-pen.

That being said, Macron is still widely popular in the country and has promised to work hard to gain the support of those that feel disenfranchised. With Macron’s win, France has held off the far-right rise to power at the national level but now must brace itself for what Le-Pen is calling a fierce campaign to install far-right nationalists in its thirteen administrative regions.