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Marine Le Pen Denounces Efforts in France to Unite Against Her Candidacy Parties in France Unite Against Marine Le Pen
(about 1 hour later)
PARIS — A day after mainstream parties were dealt a heavy defeat in the French presidential election, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, one of the two candidates to advance to a runoff, on Monday condemned the parties’ calls to unite against her and to support her rival, the independent centrist Emmanuel Macron. PARIS — A day after mainstream parties were dealt a heavy defeat in the French presidential election, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, one of the two candidates to advance to a runoff, condemned the parties’ calls to unite against her and support her rival, the independent centrist Emmanuel Macron.
In light of the success of Ms. Le Pen, a strong anti-immigrant voice who opposes the European Union, the mainstream parties on the center-left and center-right are hoping they can avert a political earthquake in the second round of voting on May 7. She will face Mr. Macron, who finished first and is seen as a strong favorite. Ms. Le Pen’s statement on Monday denouncing “the old and completely rotten Republican Front” — the coalition of mainstream parties allied against her — sums up her challenge in the May 7 runoff. So far, not a single rival party has called for its voters to support Ms. Le Pen. And she has no plausible major reservoir of votes to add to the 21.5 percent she received in the first round of voting, though she is expected to gain some voters from the defeated center-right candidate François Fillon.
President François Hollande, whose unpopularity was reflected in the fifth-place finish of Benoît Hamon, the candidate from his Socialist Party, said on Monday in a televised statement that he would vote for Mr. Macron and urged others to do the same. Only one major candidate has resisted calls to unite against Ms. Le Pen after the election on Sunday: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the firebrand hard-left candidate who came in fourth and who has pointedly refused to support Mr. Macron, saying instead that he would seek the opinion of his supporters through his website. Similarly, traditionalist Roman Catholic organizations that backed Mr. Fillon refused to endorse Mr. Macron on Monday.
Mr. Hollande said that the far-right “once again poses a risk” because of its history, its methods and its links to extremist groups in Europe. He added that Mr. Macron was “the one who defends the values that enable the French to unite.” Some of Ms. Le Pen’s advisers said, in interviews in French news media on Monday, that they were hoping to lure some of the supporters of the defeated Mr. Mélenchon, whose populist program bore similarities to that of Ms. Le Pen: hostility to the European Union, NATO and the forces of globalization; and a forgiving attitude toward Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin.
Only one major candidate has resisted calls to unite against Ms. Le Pen after the election on Sunday: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the firebrand hard-left candidate who came in fourth and who has pointedly refused to support Mr. Macron, saying instead that he would seek the opinion of his supporters through his website. Many of Mr. Mélenchon’s supporters may have little fondness for Ms. Le Pen, but in interviews they expressed equal disdain for the pro-free market Mr. Macron. “For me, Le Pen, Macron, it’s the same,” said Olivia Scemama, a musician from the 18th Arrondissement of Paris who said she voted for Mr. Mélenchon on Sunday. “With Macron, it’s the extremism of banks, of finance.”
Stock markets opened higher on Monday across Europe, a sign that investors were relieved by Mr. Macron’s strong showing. Ms. Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, wants France to leave the euro currency zone, a prospect that created mounting unease on international markets in the prelude to the first round of voting. The election results published on Monday suggested another hurdle for Ms. Le Pen to overcome: a sharp urban-rural divide in the vote, with voters in France’s major cities heavily favoring her rivals. The geography and sociology of her support was similar to Donald J. Trump’s support in the 2016 United States presidential race. She won more départements — between a county and a state in French political geography — than Mr. Macron, and she won the working-class vote. But she did poorly in what French sociologists call “Winner’s France” — urban, employed, well-educated and pro-European. She received less than 5 percent of the vote in Paris, less than 8 percent in Bordeaux and less than 9 percent in Lyon.
Few analysts say they expect Ms. Le Pen to win in the second round. Opinion polls released on Monday showed that about 60 percent of voters supported Mr. Macron, compared with less than 40 percent for Ms. Le Pen. A live televised debate between Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Macron is set for May 3. Stock markets opened higher on Monday across Europe, a sign that investors were relieved by Mr. Macron’s strong showing. Ms. Le Pen, the head of the National Front, wants France to leave the euro currency zone, a prospect that created unease on international markets in the prelude to the first round of voting.
In Hénin-Beaumont, a northern French city with a National Front mayor, where Ms. Le Pen won 46.5 percent of the vote, even her supporters were pessimistic about her chances in the runoff. “It’s a bummer: If people could come here and see how good the National Front has been for our town, they would understand how good it can be for our country,” Jean-Louis Devienne, 72, said. Few analysts say they expect Ms. Le Pen to win in the second round. Polls released on Monday showed that about 60 percent of voters supported Mr. Macron, compared with less than 40 percent for Ms. Le Pen. A live televised debate between Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Macron is set for May 3.
On Monday, Ms. Le Pen continued to emphasize the anti-immigrant and anti-globalization views that propelled her into the second round, and she denounced the efforts of the mainstream parties to keep her out of the presidency — an attitude known in France as the “Republican Front.” In Hénin-Beaumont, the northern French city where Ms. Le Pen won 46 percent of the vote and whose National Front mayor is one of her top advisers, even supporters were pessimistic about her chances in the runoff. “It’s a bummer,” said Jean-Louis Devienne, 72. “If people could come here and see how good the National Front has been for our town, they would understand how good it can be for our country.”
“The old and completely rotten Republican Front, which no one wants, and which the French have pushed away with exceptional violence, is trying to coalesce around Mr. Macron,” Ms. Le Pen said in Rouvroy, a town in the deindustrialized north of France where her message tends to resonate well with voters. On Monday, Ms. Le Pen continued to emphasize the anti-immigrant and anti-globalization views that propelled her into the second round, and she denounced the efforts of the mainstream parties to keep her out of the presidency.
“The old and completely rotten Republican Front, which no one wants, and which the French have pushed away with exceptional violence, is trying to coalesce around Mr. Macron,” Ms. Le Pen said in Rouvroy, a town in the deindustrialized north of France where her message tends to resonate with voters.
Ms. Le Pen also called Mr. Macron “weak” on terrorism, an issue that drew renewed attention days before the first round of voting, when a gunman on the Champs-Élysées, in central Paris, killed a police officer.Ms. Le Pen also called Mr. Macron “weak” on terrorism, an issue that drew renewed attention days before the first round of voting, when a gunman on the Champs-Élysées, in central Paris, killed a police officer.
Mr. Hollande is scheduled to pay tribute to the fallen officer at a ceremony on Tuesday. His office said that Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen had been invited to the ceremony, and both were expected to attend. President François Hollande is scheduled to pay tribute to the fallen officer at a ceremony on Tuesday. His office said that Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen had been invited to the ceremony, and both are expected to attend.
Mr. Macron, who has never held elective office, came first among 11 candidates, with 24.01 percent of the vote. Ms. Le Pen was second, with 21.30 percent, according to final results tallied on Monday by the Interior Ministry. Mr. Macron, who has never held elective office, came first among 11 candidates, with 23.75 percent of the vote. Ms. Le Pen was second, with 21.53 percent, according to final results tallied on Monday by the Interior Ministry.
François Fillon, the center-right candidate who was once seen as the front-runner, before a scandal involving public funds paid to his family, finished third, with 20.01 percent. He was followed by Mr. Mélenchon, with 19.58 percent, and by Mr. Hamon, with 6.36 percent. Mr. Fillon, the center-right candidate who was once seen as the front-runner, before a scandal involving public funds paid to his family, finished third at 19.91 percent. He was followed by Mr. Mélenchon at 19.64 percent, and the Socialist candidate, Benoît Hamon, at 6.35 percent.
The mainstream parties were left struggling to pick up the pieces after their poor showing. On the right, many were quick to blame their candidate, Mr. Fillon, who refused to drop out of the race after the embezzlement scandal.The mainstream parties were left struggling to pick up the pieces after their poor showing. On the right, many were quick to blame their candidate, Mr. Fillon, who refused to drop out of the race after the embezzlement scandal.
Top officials of Mr. Fillon’s center-right Republicans were scheduled to meet on Monday in Paris to set the party line, but many prominent politicians had, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, already called on Sunday for voters to support Mr. Macron. Mr. Fillon’s Republican party called on Monday for people to vote against Ms. Le Pen, without explicitly encouraging its supporters to vote for Mr. Macron. But many prominent politicians had, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, already directly called on Sunday for voters to support Mr. Macron.
The Socialists and the Republicans will now be looking to elections in June, when French voters will elect the members of the National Assembly, France’s lower and more powerful house of Parliament. The Socialists and the Republicans will now be looking to elections in June, when French voters will elect the members of the National Assembly, France’s lower and more powerful house of Parliament. Those legislative elections could present a bigger challenge for Mr. Macron than winning the second round of the presidential election. He has vowed to field candidates in all 577 districts. But his political movement is barely a year old, and he is up against the established parties, which are weakened but still have extensive political networks.
Although Mr. Macron is seen as an overwhelming favorite in the second round of the presidential election, he was warned not to take victory for granted and — after he spent Monday night with supporters at a chic restaurant in the wealthy Sixth Arrondissement of Paris — not to celebrate too much, too soon.Although Mr. Macron is seen as an overwhelming favorite in the second round of the presidential election, he was warned not to take victory for granted and — after he spent Monday night with supporters at a chic restaurant in the wealthy Sixth Arrondissement of Paris — not to celebrate too much, too soon.
Mr. Macron had to avoid making “the same mistake as Hillary Clinton,” the newspaper Le Monde wrote in an editorial on Monday, arguing that Mrs. Clinton had not sufficiently addressed the popularity of her opponent Bernie Sanders in the primaries. Mr. Macron had to avoid making “the same mistake as Hillary Clinton,” the newspaper Le Monde wrote in an editorial on Monday, arguing that Mrs. Clinton had not sufficiently addressed the popularity of her opponent Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party primaries.
In its editorial, Le Monde wrote that Mr. Macron needed to be wary of high abstention in the second round, especially by voters on the left who had helped Mr. Mélenchon surge late in the campaign.
“Emmanuel Macron has less than 15 days to show all of these reluctant voters that he has assessed the scale of the shock undergone by the French political system,” the newspaper wrote.
The left-wing Mr. Mélenchon has campaigned against trade agreements, and his economic views are contrary to those of Mr. Macron, a former banker, prompting local officials of the National Front in Hénin-Beaumont to sense an opportunity for Ms. Le Pen to pick up support.
“When you’ve voted for anti-system candidates such as Mr. Mélenchon,” said Christopher Szczurek, an alderman to the National Front mayor, “never, ever will you vote for the candidate of the system.”
Like other local voters, though, Mr. Szczurek predicted a “tough” runoff. “Everyone is going to rally behind the Frankenstein-like candidacy of Mr. Macron,” he said. “Once again, Marine Le Pen is alone against everyone else.”