Paris (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron may be leading the presidential election, but he has warned his supporters that “nothing has been done” and that his second -round against far -right rival Marine Le Pen will be difficult. And he was ready for it.
The duel will begin on Monday, after the two leaders come out in the first round of voting on Sunday. Centrist Macron headed to the economically handicapped region of northern France, where the majority of voters chose Le Pen, approaching his polling station in Henin-Beaumont.
Meanwhile, officials from the national Le Pen rally will meet on Monday to plan a round two strategy scheduled for April 24. Le Pen summed up the controversy by saying voters are faced with “a major choice in between two conflicting perspectives on the future “.
Macron Le Pen was already challenged in the second round of the presidential election five years ago. But all the polls show that the leader of the national rally is closer to a potential win this time around.
Macron said he wanted to reassure those who voted for “extremists” or stayed home that “our project responds more seriously to their fears and challenges at the time.”
In her third attempt to become France’s first female president, Le Pen on Sunday was honored with years of efforts to make herself more pragmatic and less extreme. Macron accused Le Pen of a dangerous manifesto of racist and destructive policies. Le Pen wants to remove certain rights for Muslims, ban them from wearing the veil in public and drastically reduce immigration outside Europe.
In a speech Sunday night, Macron said his project would protect all religions and freedoms, “believe it or not”.
Rising food and energy prices are underpinning Le Pen’s campaign, but Macron’s team insists it has no financial way to fulfill its promises.
“Our focus now is on the project and on the values,” said Senator François Patriot, a member of Macron’s party. The strategy is to “be proud” of the achievements of the past five years, to show “a little bit of humility” and “above all, a certain fighting spirit,” he said.
Macron will use the next few days to “get off the pitch,” he said. This week, visits to different regions of France are planned. Macron did not spend most of his election campaign until the first round Sunday, as he spent most of his time on diplomatic efforts in the war in Ukraine.
At the same time, the Le Pen camp hopes to use Macron’s anger on policies seen as pro-wealthy.
“Now anything is possible,” Aurien Lopez Liguor, Le Pen city councilor in the southern city of Seth, told The Associated Press. Compared to 2017, “Macron now has a record, bad record”. He mentioned Le Pen’s closeness to the French during the campaign to close the gorge at Macron.
“We shouldn’t think this has already been done,” French Foreign Minister Clement Bowen told The Associated Press.
The fight will be “project against project,” he said.
Referring to Macron’s “pro -European” project, Bonnie recalled that five years ago “Le Pen” offered – let’s not forget – to leave the euro (zone), to escape from Europe in Brexit and Frexit are in vogue.
Le Pen has denied previous threats to leave the euro if France leaves the EU, but some of his proposals, including the establishment of national border controls, are against EU policies.
Macron and Le Pen will discuss on national television next week.
Most of the votes were counted on Monday morning in the first round of 12 candidates, Macron received more than 27%, while Le Pen received 23%. Third was left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon with 22%.
Macron improved his performance in the first round of 2017, despite the shock in his presidency over the perceived economic injustice of the yellow vest protest movement, the pandemic and the Russian war in Ukraine.
The result of the elections will have a far -reaching international impact as Europe struggles to prevent the devastation caused by this war. Macron strongly supports EU sanctions against Russia, while Le Pen is concerned about its impact on French living standards. Macron is also a supporter of closer cooperation between NATO and EU-27.
Contributions by John Lester and Elaine Ganly to Paris.
Source: Huffpost
