Emmanuel Macron vs Marine Le Pen

French Emmanuel Macron He appears to have been appointed to a second term as president, as polls predicted he would easily beat far-right rival Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s election.

Centrist Macron of La République En Marche appears set to gain about 58.2% in the second and final round of voting, according to a projection by pollster Ipsos-Sopra Steria, with Marine Le Pen of the nationalist and far-right Rally Nationalist party. Party at about 41.8%.

Immediately after expectations, Le Pen spoke to her supporters in Paris and accepted defeat. She said her result was a “victory” for her political movement, referring to the June parliamentary elections.

“The French this evening showed a desire for a strong counterweight against Emmanuel Macron for an opposition that will continue to defend and protect them,” she said in a translation to Reuters.

Despite Macron’s expected victory, the margin represents a smaller gap between the candidates compared to the 2017 elections, when Macron won 66.1% of the vote.

The 2022 campaign is set against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis in France, an increase in support for the radical left among younger generations, and suggestions from Indifference among the voters. According to the Interior Ministry, turnout on Sunday was two percentage points lower than the 2017 elections.

At the start of the election campaign, the 44-year-old Macron capitalized on his stance and diplomatic efforts toward the Russo-Ukrainian War. But that support dissipated in the days leading up to the first round of voting on April 10, as French citizens focused heavily on domestic affairs and high inflation.

Marine Le Pen – who has now run for president of France three times – has chosen to distance herself from her earlier rhetoric on the European Union and euro integration and focus instead on the economic struggles of French voters.

However, as the second round of voting approached, censorship of the two people and their politics intensified. In a two-hour television debate Wednesday, Macron spoke about Le Pen’s previous relations with Russia And President Vladimir Putinaccusing it of relying on Moscow.

Macron said on Friday that Le Pen’s plans to ban Muslim women from wearing the headscarf in public would lead to a “civil war”.

If Macron’s victory is confirmed, it would be the first French president to win a second term in two decades. He will look to continue his reform agenda, recently promising to help France reach full employment Changing the retirement age in the country from 62 to 65.

Frederic Leroux, head of the traded assets team at Carmeniac, the French fund manager, said Macron’s clear victory is likely to reassure markets.

“In the short term, the main logical beneficiary from this election may be the euro, which was still flirting last Friday with two-year lows against the dollar,” he said in a flash research note after the forecast.

He added, “The downside for the markets in this somewhat comfortable election may come from a quick decision in favor of a Russian oil embargo, which will exacerbate inflationary pressures and economic slowdown (stagflation scenario) in Europe.”