World News | Polling Agencies Project Macron to Be Reelected in France

Paris, Apr 24 (AP) French polling agencies are projecting that centrist President Emmanuel Macron will win France's presidential runoff Sunday, beating far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a tight race that was overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and saw a surge in French support for extremist ideas.

If the projections are borne out by official results, Macron would be the first French president in 20 years to win a second term, since Jacques Chirac in 2002. But he would face a divided nation and a battle to keep his parliamentary majority in legislative elections in June.

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Five years ago, Macron won a sweeping victory to become France's youngest president at 39. The margin is expected to be way smaller this time: Polling agencies Opinionway, Harris and Ifop projected that Macron would win between 57% and 58.5% percent of the vote, with Le Pen getting between 41.5% and 43%.

With just three hours before the last voting stations closed, turnout was 63% — down two points compared with the same time five years ago.

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Many French voters have found the 2022 rematch less compelling than in 2017, when Macron was an unknown factor, having never previously held elected office. Leftist voters — unable to identify with either the centrist president or Le Pen's fiercely nationalist platform — were agonising with the choice on Sunday. Some trooped reluctantly to polling stations solely to stop Le Pen, casting joyless votes for Macron.

Seeking to become France's first president in 20 years to win reelection, Macron, 44, went into the vote with a sizeable lead in polls but unable to guarantee victory from a fractured, anxious and tired electorate. The war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic battered Macron's first term, as did months of violent protests against his economic policies.

The upheavals created fertile ground for Le Pen, who is making her third attempt to become France's first woman president. Campaigning hard on cost-of-living issues, she made deep inroads among blue-collar voters, in disaffected rural communities and former industrial centers.

Even if the 53-year-old Le Pen stops short of the presidential Elysee Palace, a high score Sunday would still be a victory of sorts for the far right. Macron beat Le Pen handily in 2017 — 66% to 34% — but the result is expected to be closer this time.

So close that some voters felt compelled to turn out Sunday to block her ascent.

Marian Arbre, voting in Paris, cast his ballot for Macron “to avoid a government that finds itself with fascists, racists.”

“There's a real risk," the 29-year-old fretted.

As the only nuclear-armed power in the European Union, the outcome in France was being watched across the 27-nation bloc, which — with Russia's war in Ukraine — is grappling with its worst security crisis since World War II.

France has played a leading role in international efforts to punish Russia with sanctions and is supplying weapons systems to Ukraine. Le Pen's ties to Russia became an issue during the campaign, raising questions as to how she would deal with the Kremlin if elected.

Nearly 49 million voters are eligible to cast ballots. Early results are expected Sunday night.

Le Pen voted in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, in France's struggling former industrial heartland.

“I am serene,” she said. “I have confidence in the French.”

Macron voted in the resort town of Le Touquet on the English Channel and cast his ballot with a wink for the cameras. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)