Presidential election campaigning to resume in France
Campaigning begins today for the second round of France’s presidential election.
The French presidential election will culminate in an April 24 run-off where voters will choose between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron of the liberal-center La Republique En Marche (LEM) party and Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally Party (RN).
Participation in the first round was estimated at 73.3%, the lowest in 20 years, and far-right and far-left candidates received 52.3% of the vote. On Wednesday, Macron warned against Le Pen’s far-right policy positions, in particular her proposal for a national referendum on drastically limiting immigration. The day after, Le Pen stated her support for a referendum on reintroducing the death penalty and threatened to dismantle the country’s wind turbines.
Expect a close vote on election day, with far-left voters determining the winner. Should Macron win, his policies will likely resemble his first term’s, with an emphasis on domestic, pro-business policies such as tax cuts and pension system reforms. If Le Pen wins, she will likely adopt and implement expansive, far-right proposals such as those previously mentioned, with the possibility of legislative gridlock should RN fail to gain a majority in France’s National Assembly after elections in June.
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