French elections, a defeat for traditional parties

With nearly all votes counted in the French presidential election, liberal and independent Emmanuel Macron and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen have advanced to the second round. The election results were a “historic defeat” for the French left.

Of the 11 candidates in the French presidential election, two have made it to the final round of the race to enter the Elysee Palace. With almost all votes counted, liberal and independent politician Emmanuel Macron won with 23.9 percent and Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front party, won with 21.4 percent.

Marine Le Pen has called the election results historic. More than 7.6 million French people voted for Marine Le Pen. In her campaign, she advocated closing borders, leaving the European Union, and ending free trade.

The populist leader of the National Front won about 6.8 million votes in the 2015 local elections and about 6.4 million votes in the 2012 presidential elections (17.9 percent of the total vote).

But the real winner of Sunday's French election was Emmanuel Macron, the independent and liberal politician. He called his victory a "turning point in French politics" and said the French had voted for "reform and renewal."

Macron, 39, is the leader of the En Marche movement, which he campaigned on, promising to reform the labor market and pension system if he wins. A former banker who served as economy minister in Hollande's cabinet, Macron is a left-leaning liberal and pro-European.

François Fillon, the candidate of the Republican conservatives, has captured 20% of the French vote. He was the most likely politician to enter the Élysée Palace when he was nominated, but in a few months he has gone from a politician with a “clean record” to a controversial politician with allegations of financial abuse.

On Sunday evening, François Fillon admitted defeat and urged his supporters to vote for Emmanuel Macron in the second round.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the candidate of the French left, received 19.2% of the vote, placing him in fourth place after Macron, Le Pen and Fillon.

The socialists suffered a crushing defeat.

The French Socialist Party suffered a crushing defeat in Sunday's election. Benoit Hamon, the candidate for the Socialist Party, the current ruling party, received 6.3 percent of the French vote. This was the party's worst result in its history.

Benoit Hamon called his defeat a “historical defeat” for the French left. The current president, François Hollande, is from the Socialist Party and did not run for re-election due to his low popularity.

It is clear to almost all observers that in two weeks, on May 7, French voters will hand the keys to the Élysée Palace to Emmanuel Macron, a young, liberal politician.

Macron appeared before his supporters last night after the preliminary results were announced, and he was clearly in the lead. He said that "France has won" in Sunday's election.

Emmanuel Macron's entry into French politics and his likely victory in the second round of the election mark the end of the two-party system in France in the post-World War II era.

Changing discourse in French politics

Polls in recent weeks have also shown that independent Emmanuel Macron and National Front leader Marine Le Pen will advance to the second round, with Macron in first place and Le Pen in second place.

However, many French people were concerned about poll results being misinterpreted, something that happened in the last two years, first in the British referendum and then in the US presidential election.

Moreover, despite the predictions being confirmed, the results of the French election on Sunday remain surprising and a turning point in the country's history. For the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic (the period that began with the presidency of de Gaulle), none of the candidates from the traditional center-left or center-right parties made it to the second round.

From the perspective of analysts, the defeat of traditional parties means that from now on, in French political discourse, the traditional confrontation between left and right blocs will give way to a confrontation between supporters of globalization and its opponents.

Source: DW