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INCUMBENT FRENCH PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron is on course to win a second term by defeating far-right leader Marine Le Pen in presidential elections, projections have showed.
Macron was set to win between 57.6% and 58.2% of the vote compared with Le Pen on 41.8% to 42.4%, according to projections by polling firms for French television channels based on a sample of the vote count.
Macron went into the election with a stable lead in opinion polls, an advantage he consolidated in the frenetic final days of campaigning, including a no-holds-barred performance in the pre-election debate.
Le Pen hailed her score in presidential elections on Sunday as a “brilliant victory”, despite her projected defeat to Emmanuel Macron.
Promising to “carry on” her political career and vowing that she would “never abandon” the French, the 53-year-old said: “The result represents a brilliant victory.”
The second round run-off is a repeat of the clash between Le Pen and Macron in 2017 when the centrist won 66 percent of the vote. But the margins were seen as being far narrower this time.
The European Union’s two most senior officials on Sunday congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron after projections showed him winning a second term in office.
“We can count on France for five more years,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter. “I am delighted to be able to continue our excellent cooperation,” tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin wrote on Twitter that Macron’s “principled and dynamic leadership is important not only for France, but for Europe.”
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi said: “The victory of Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election is great news for all of Europe.”
Voting stations closed at 8pm (7pm Irish time), when polling firms published preliminary results based on partial counts that usually predict the final result with a high degree of accuracy.
Macron in particular was banking on left-wing voters who backed other candidates in the first round will support the former investment banker and his pro-business, reformist agenda to stop Le Pen and her populist programme.
But far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who scored a close third-place finish in the first round, pointedly refused to urge his millions of followers to back Macron while insisting they should not vote for Le Pen.
Macron himself repeatedly said that the complacency of stay-at-home voters precipitated the shocks of the 2016 elections that led to Brexit in Britain and Donald Trump’s election in the United States.
The stakes were huge for both France and Europe, with Macron pledging reform and tighter EU integration while Le Pen, who would be France’s first female president, insists the bloc should be modified in what opponents describe as “Frexit” by another name.
Macron has also opposed Le Pen’s plan to make it illegal to wear the Muslim headscarf in public, though her team has walked back on the proposal ahead of the vote, saying it was no longer a “priority”.
They have also clashed on Russia, with Macron seeking to portray Le Pen as incapable of dealing with the invasion of Ukraine due to a loan her party took from a Russian-Czech bank.
Macron is the first French president to win re-election in two decades since Jacques Chirac in 2002.
He is expected to address supporters on the Champ de Mars in central Paris at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
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Great news for France, for Europe and for democracy. The anti-vax, pro-Poutine, racists, pro-Frexit and all other populist nuts can crawl back under their rock. Having a glass of champagne to celebrate!!
@ForrestG45: jeez, what’s wrong with Poutine. Chips with cheese and gravy is lovely!
@Andrew Taz Donohoe: ever hear of the poison chalice ?
@ForrestG45: “great news for france”? i doubt it this is great news…
@Andrew Taz Donohoe: LOL!
@Andrew Taz Donohoe: Beat me to it lol
@ForrestG45: this is the sort of arrogance that gives rise to alternative and extremist opinions.
@ForrestG45: Whatever about the French, just leave the Canadians out of it lol
@Sean McCarthy: indeed. The arrogance of the anti vaxers who believe they know better than scientists. The astronomical arrogance of Putin. The arrogance inherent in racism. The arrogance of populists who use all the logical fallacies in the book to gain support. Thank goodness arrogance didn’t win.
Fantastic result, Le Pen defeated. (Hopefully)
Hopefully any politician with any connection to Pro Russian sentiment will have a similar fate
@David Mulligan: Yeah. Wallace and Gromit next.
@lelookcoco: Coco t’as le look!
@ForrestG45: Eh ben dis donc!
Thank F
Well done French people, you have avoid to make the same mistake the US citizens(with Trump), Brazilians and Hungarian people made. Well done
@Leandro Santos: don’t forget Borris
@James Lough: Grand place. Home to Mt Leinster Rangers and 3 fine pubs.
@James Lough: you must be an d-u-m-b as they come to equate this
@Vinylman_Teaboy: Tories are in receipt of Russian funding just like Le Pen, Trump and Orban
@Vinylman_Teaboy: — You obviously don’t know much about Johnson and the “Noo” Tories if you disagree with James Lough’s comment.
@James Lough: I wish I could.
And the world takes a sigh of relief. Thanks F
@Radek Warchola: indeed! and the majority of french people another 5 years of the same BS…
@Jonathan Valsin: 58.2% voted for him. Better him than a far right populist.
@Radek Warchola: i really doubt they voted FOR fim. more like voted against the idea of having marine as president. but that doesn’t mean that those 58% like him or agree with him.
@Jonathan Valsin: salty
@Jonathan Valsin: how would you know that now?
@Paul Furey: cause i’m french!
@Jonathan Valsin: Hon hon hon!
@Jonathan Valsin: yes I know. Not a fan of Macron either and I know how people voted. Yet the result is a better option than the alternative.
Hallelujah
@Liam MacSuibhne: lovely song
Phew!
Sanity prevails
Well done French people, you have avoided to make the same mistake the US citizens(with Trump), Brazilians and Hungarian people made. Congratulations. Democracy wins once more.
@Leandro Santos: Hopefully all European states can sideline the left and right wing factions!!
Thank god
I would say they are breathing easy and Brussels with Macron’s win
Macron is incapable of uniting the country. Mass protests and riots to continue. Doesn’t seem like good news to me.
@Mike Dunne: An Russian puppet Len Pen was going to unite the country? LMAO.
@Seán Ó Briain: Yes, under the red banner with sickle and hammer.
The Real figure to worry about here is 42% Le Penne. Wow.
@Paul Keane: the second most important. The 58% is more important…..but I see what you mean.
Very disappointing.
@Padraic Burke: Love an auld reductive, bargain bin fascist, do we P?
@Padraic Burke: go have a few pints with Wallace and gromit and the gemmanoids.
@Padraic Burke: Disappointed for Putin yes, now France stays in NATO.
Félicitations M Macron.
Fashy fanbois salty tears are delicious. Populists also defeated in Slovenia tonight.
People finally getting the message about voting for populist politics…
@Kevin50: I really hope you’re right. It might instead be that Le Pen was mired in Russian connections and isn’t that good a ‘professional’ candidate in comparison to some of her European equivalents. Her promise for a certain referendum (if she won) further exposed her cosmetic branding.
Grand résultat et tellement heureux, work to be done
Phew!!!!
The National Assembly elections will be interesting, especially Mélenchon’s vote
Thank you to the French people for voting for democracy and not authoritarianism.
She would have been a disaster for European security and interests.
sure look at her, who would vote for that thing.
Will still be business as usual with putin as soon as the war is over. Same with Germany. But far right winning would have been a disaster for Europe. We have to applaud macron for winning even though he is one of the main enablers for putins war.
Between plague or cholera, we got the plague…..
No wonder Putin looked forlorn today? The thought of having to endure another four years of Macron’s daily phone calls whining about Ukraine can’t be pleasant. Unfortunately for Europe, Macron is no Merkel despite his efforts to portray himself as her successor. A victory for democracy in Europe for sure, but not particularly inspiring.
Good. Le Pen is a loony. Good riddance!
Ah no poor old Marine will be devastated.
Godammit man
@O’Brien Michael: poor Putin too! He’ll be *gutted*.
Now if only he keeps his promise to do better for the French people and take the wind right out of the nationalist (populist is a clever labeling trick) movement.
Such great news ,
the far right are a treat to democracy and so proud of the electorate on this fantastic news.
have your say