By Sulaimon Jamiu
For Emmanuel Macron, it’s another five years as French President after he defeated his far-Right rival, Marine Le Pen amid low turnout at the elections on Sunday.
According to exit polls, the 44-year-old centrist won with a 58.2% share of the vote – beating the 53-year-old Le Pen who secured 41.8%.
The result is narrower than their second-round clash in 2017, when the same two candidates met in the run-off and Macron polled over 66% of the vote.
Following his victory, Macron has become the first French president to win re-election since Jacques Chirac in 2002 after his predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande left office after only one term.
The relatively comfortable margin of victory will nonetheless give Macron some confidence as he heads into a second five-year mandate, but the election also represents the closest “the far right” has ever come to winning power in France.
A victory by Le Pen, accused by opponents of having cozy ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, would have sent shockwaves around the world, comparable to the 2016 polls that led to Brexit in Britain and Donald Trump’s election in the United States.
Several European leaders and politicians have swiftly congratulated Mr. Macron for his re-election, as his far-right rival Marine Le Pen conceded defeat.
“Those who voted for me overwhelmingly in this second round – I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. We will continue to defend the citizens of France, now like never before,” Le Pen told supporters at her campaign headquarters in Paris.
Macron will now serve as France’s head of state until 2027. There are strong feelers that he will face a difficult second term, with none of the grace period that he enjoyed after his first victory, and protests likely over his plan to continue pro-business reforms, among other policies.
