France: Macron stays: Why the re-election gives a sigh of relief

France
Macron stays: Why the re-election gives a sigh of relief

In the two weeks before his re-election, Emmanuel Macron often takes off his jacket, steps into a crowd and allows himself to be insulted. “I voted for you in 2017, but I regret it,” a woman in northern France told him.

“Macron, resign!” Young people chanted to him in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis. “President of the rich,” echoes others. Before the run-off election for the presidential palace, the 44-year-old goes to the places where people don’t crowd forward for a selfie, but to tell him to his face what’s going wrong in France.

Arrogant and aloof?

The way out of the comfort zone of the Élysée Palace, down from the lecterns in the election campaign halls, ultimately pays off for Macron. With a clear majority of 58 to 58.2 percent according to the projections, people confirmed the 44-year-old for a second term on Sunday. The eloquent Macron in a smart suit had previously been criticized for being arrogant and aloof. Many accused the graduate of an elite university and investment banker, who made a vertical start in the Élysée Palace in 2017, of not being close to the people.

Macron has now deliberately gotten close to where people had previously voted in droves for the left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon or his competitor in the runoff, the right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen. The fact that she was able to get so close to him in the meantime was due to the fact that she had campaigned in the street for months in the regions and had presented herself as a sensitive listener to the concerns of those with low incomes. At the time, Macron had not even declared his candidacy and was probably too sure of his re-election.

The first round of voting became a reality check. Even if Macron ultimately scored slightly more percentage points than polls had previously forecast, he had to admit on election night that nothing had been won. The resigned and the left now became the tipping the scales for which Macron had to court. He could not rely on an action by everyone against the right. In some places, the frustration with Macron is too great.

And so he became insistent. Macron warned against Le Pen’s simple recipes and her nationalist plans. The president clearly opposed the right-wing nationalist’s agitation against foreigners and Muslims: “France is a bloc, you don’t sort it out, you don’t choose, you love it as a whole, just the way it is.” In addition, the President left no doubts about the scope of the election: “This election is also a referendum for or against the EU (…), environmental protection and therefore also a referendum for or against what we are fundamentally”.

Anything but Le Pen

Parties, associations, athletes, cultural workers – they all emphatically called on the population not to vote for Le Pen, not to put her in office with one abstention, even if it hurts to vote for the only one who prevents her could: Macron. In the end, it had an effect – even if many of Macron’s compatriots were reluctant to vote to prevent President Le Pen.

The sigh of relief in Berlin and Brussels should have been great on election night. Nobody there really wanted to imagine a victory for the eurosceptic Putin friend with nationalist plans for France. Now the liberal pro-European Germany and Europe remains. Macron plays a leading role in ensuring that the Europeans act as one in the Ukraine crisis and in jointly cushioning the consequences.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will now be able to continue to act in tandem with Macron at the top of Europe. Macron and his government always clearly named Germany as a key partner. Le Pen, meanwhile, made no secret of wanting to sever these ties and prefer alliances with other Eurosceptics.

Bad news for Putin

Macron’s re-election for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is likely to be bad news, since with Le Pen in the Élysée Palace he could have used France as a rift in the European front against his country. With Macron, however, there is no doubt that they will close ranks in the face of war. And the fact that Macron continues to seek telephone contact with Putin could be useful again for a negotiation solution.

Other construction sites await the election winner in their own country. After a first term in office with postponed reforms, a population grumbling about the decline in purchasing power during the crisis and young people calling for decisive action in the face of climate change, Macron is in demand on many fronts. Education and the health sector also need to be modernized.

In addition to promises and concessions in the final stages of the campaign, Macron also attuned people to the burdens ahead. “There is no independence without economic strength, so we have to work more.” Specifically, it is about retirement at 65, a hot topic that Macron will soon have to fight alongside other urgent construction sites.

dpa