France faces a fateful choice after Sunday’s first presidential vote. Because all the polls indicate that the duo will be named Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen in the second ballot scheduled for April 24, just like in May 2017. But while Macron clearly won the race five years ago with more than 61 percent of the vote , polls predict a very close race this time around.
Should a second election come in the same constellation, Macron is reportedly currently only three percent of the vote ahead of his right-wing nationalist challenger. However, candidates for Le Pen’s right-wing populist party have often fared worse than polls had predicted in previous elections. For Macron, however, the race will be much closer than expected.
Other candidates seem hopeless
Of the other candidates taking part in the first round of voting on Sunday, none of them seem to have a chance of making it to the second round – neither the candidates of the Socialists and the Conservatives, such as the state-support parties in France for decades, nor the Greens and far left and far right.
Yes, there is a candidate in Eric Zemmour who is even more right-wing than Le Pen, and that actually suited Le Pen, because to many she now seems much less radical and therefore more eligible than before.
It remains exciting insofar as more than 30 percent of the voters were still undecided. In addition, up to 35 percent may want to cast a blank vote out of disenchantment with politics, and up to 25 percent may not vote at all.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
