Emmanuel Macron Mounts a Patriot’s Challenge to Marine Le Pen
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Version 0 of 1. Defenders of liberal democracy in France and elsewhere sighed with relief after Sunday’s first-round vote in France’s presidential election. The centrist, pro-European Union political upstart, Emmanuel Macron, who founded his En Marche! party just last year, looks set to face off against the far-right populist National Front candidate, Marine Le Pen, in the final vote for the French presidency on May 7. Polls have predicted that Mr. Macron will beat Ms. Le Pen handily, though, with its traditional parties left in shambles by this election, France remains deeply divided and its politics unsteady. Certainly, if Mr. Macron prevails on May 7, that will be good news for Europe: The embattled European Union would most likely not survive if France left the bloc. But the strong showing by Ms. Le Pen — who promises a referendum on France remaining in the union — is a further warning of the rising danger posed by populist right-wing leaders, in Europe and around the world. Her anti-immigrant National Front party will surely remain strong as long as French unemployment lingers in the double digits, and the many French who believe they have been abandoned by global elites see no better hope elsewhere. Ms. Le Pen called her performance in the polls on Sunday “an act of French pride.” Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen’s strong showings have upended French politics, as voters spurned the mainstream center-left Socialist Party and center-right Les Républicains party that have dominated the landscape for decades. The Socialist Party of the deeply unpopular president, François Hollande, lies shattered, with its candidate, Benoît Hamon, trailing in a distant fifth place. Mr. Hamon conceded defeat on Sunday, throwing his support behind Mr. Macron. A fourth candidate, François Fillon of Les Républicains, also failed to win enough votes to put him on the May 7 ballot after being dogged by charges that he used public funds to pay his wife and children for work they may not have done. Mr. Fillon also conceded on Sunday night and said he would vote for Mr. Macron on May 7. He warned of Ms. Le Pen that “extremism can only bring about the misfortune and division of France.” A far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who reaped a late surge of support, was trailing Mr. Fillon, but said he would wait until the final, official count was announced before conceding. France may be entering a new, fractured political era, but on Sunday its voters showed that they remained receptive to Mr. Macron’s hopeful message, including his openness to immigrants and diversity, despite a recent spate of terrorist attacks and Ms. Le Pen’s dark campaign. Mr. Macron said on Sunday that he wanted to be the “president of patriots, to face the threat of nationalists,” holding himself out as France’s true agent of change after decades of government failure. France will now face a stark choice on May 7, and hopes for Europe will ride not just on a win by Mr. Macron, but on his subsequent success in delivering on his commitment. |