The first round of the French Presidential elections turned favorable for President Emmanuel Macron with a leading 28.1-29.5% votes, followed by his far-right rival Marine Le Pen with 23.3-24.4% votes.
The current president is about to face his rival during the final vote on April 24.
Macron and Le Pen
It is not the first time the candidates are facing each other in an election. The 2017 presidential elections saw a significant win for Macron with 66.1% votes, making him France’s youngest-ever president. Marine Le Pen secured 33.9% votes during the election.
The support
Macron had wide support from the public last month, thanks to his mediation efforts following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The French Leader attempted to have diplomatic settlements between the two countries and also urged the EU to take action against the Kremlin.
But the public boost started to dissolve, and Macron was soon pushed into a situation to retain the support—as he was late to his domestic campaign trail due to his busy schedule.
Marine Le Pen has gathered many supporters through her election campaigns this time. Focussing on cost-of-living issues, Le Pen has made a strong opponent of herself against the current President.
Le Pen was an admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin until Moscow attacked Kyiv.
The two weeks of political battle
Results of the first round of elections turned the majority of the candidates to support Emmanuel Macron ahead of the final vote. The candidates urged voters to block the far-right, Le Pen in the second round.
Le Pen can rely on supporters of the far-right candidate, Eric Zemmour, who stands among one of the very few candidates to support the far-right.
Many speculate that the road will not be easy for Macron, and he has to pay more attention should he win this election.
Left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came dangerously close to Le Pen with 21.57% of the votes, warned his supporters and said, “You must not give a single vote to Marine Le Pen.”
Both the candidates are planning a full-blown course of action with various campaigns and television appearances for the next 15 days before the final vote on April 24.
