French President Emmanuel Macron wins second term with 58.5% of vote
France’s President Emmanuel Macron has won presidential elections after defeating the far-right leader Marine Le Pen in elections on Sunday. This is the second five-year term for the 44-year-old centrist French leader.
Macron’s victory makes him the first French president in 20 years to win a second term, according to French media.
Macron secured 58.54% of the votes whereas his nationalist and far-right rival Le Pen got 41.46%. Le Pen conceded shortly after first projections showed Macron winning more than 58 per cent votes and vowed to lead the fight against Macron’s party in the upcoming parliamentary elections. About 28 per cent of voters did not turn out, the highest in any presidential election run-off since 1969, according to Le Monde.
The 44-year-old gave a victory speech on the Champ-de-Mars in central Paris at the foot of the Eiffel Tower vowed to tackle the country’s “doubts and divisions” during his second term. “Our country is beset by doubts and divisions,” he said. “Today’s vote requires us to consider all the hardships of people’s lives and to respond effectively to them and to the anger expressed.”
World leaders have congratulated Macron on winning the seconf term in office.
United States President Joe Biden also hailed Macron’s victory. “France is our oldest ally and a key partner in addressing global challenges,” he said in a tweet. “I look forward to our continued close cooperation – including on supporting Ukraine, defending democracy, and countering climate change.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged cooperation with Macron and saying: “France is one of our closest and most important allies.” He said thar he looked “forward to continuing to work together on the issues which matter most to our two countries and to the world.”
European Council President Charles Michel was among the first to congratulate Macron. “Bravo Emmanuel. In this turbulent period, we need a solid Europe and a France totally committed to a more sovereign and more strategic European Union,” Charles Michel tweeted.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said French voters “have sent a strong vote of confidence in Europe today”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also congratulated his French counterpart by phone. Zelenskyy called Macron a “true friend of Ukraine” in a tweet. “I wish him further success for the sake of the [French] people. I appreciate his support and I am convinced that we are moving together towards new common victories,” he wrote in Ukrainian and French.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Macron’s victory was a “great expression of liberal democracy in action in uncertain times” and said he wished the French leader and his country “every success, in particular your leadership in Europe and as an important partner to Australia in the Indo-Pacific”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “looking forward to continuing our work together on the issues that matter most to people in Canada and France – from defending democracy, to fighting climate change, to creating good jobs and economic growth for the middle class”.
