Of
Thomas Kirchner and Nadia Pantel, Paris
There is always some surprise in French presidential elections. On the first lap on Sunday there were even two and they point in different directions. On the one hand, the strength of the incumbent is striking: after counting 80 percent of the votes, 27.3 percent for Emmanuel Macron, which is an excellent result under the conditions of the political system of the Fifth Republic, better than on his debut in 2017. For the tiebreaker in two weeks in which the right-wing extremist Marine Le Pen faces him, this is a good starting position that was not expected. A poll in the evening sees him in a direct duel with 54 to 46 percent in the lead. That means it will be much tighter than five years ago, but it could be enough for Macron.