France election 2022: Runoff election between Macron and Le Pen is emerging

Created: 03/22/2022, 15:12

In the 2017 election, there was a runoff between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron.

© Eric Feferberg / Afp POOL / dpa

The French presidential election will take place in just under three weeks.

A runoff election between President Macron and right-wing populist Le Pen is becoming increasingly apparent.

Paris – Almost three weeks before the French presidential election, a runoff between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen is emerging.

In a survey by the Elabe Institute published on Tuesday (March 22), Macron slipped 3.5 points to 27.5 percent.

He is still well ahead of Le Pen, who increased by two points to 20 percent.

In midfield, left-wing populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon overtakes right-wing candidate Valérie Pécresse and far-right politician Eric Zemmour with 15 percent, both of whom have slipped in the polls in recent weeks and only get ten percent each.

France election 2022: Macron still well ahead of Le Pen

Macron had gained about five points since the start of the Ukraine war, depending on the survey.

Pollsters attribute this to voters' greater need for stability in uncertain times.

The recent decline could be a reaction to the presentation of his election manifesto, in which he advocates raising the retirement age from 62 to 65, among other things.

However, the assumption that Le Pen could lose favor with the voters because of her close ties to Russia has not been confirmed.

Your party has been financed by Russian banks for years.

During the 2017 election campaign, Le Pen was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

A photo of the encounter even adorned one of her election brochures, which she had scrapped after the start of the Ukraine war.

Zemmour initially conducted an extremely intensive election campaign, with numerous visits to the country and frequent large-scale events.

In the past few days, he seemed to be running out of breath, and several events have been canceled.

On the other hand, he made a name for himself with all the more radical proposals, such as the introduction of a deportation ministry and the plan to expel one million foreigners from France within five years.

Presidential election France: Macron keeps campaigning to a minimum

Several major events are planned for the remaining three weeks.

Ex-President François Hollande wanted to support his socialist party comrade, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, on Tuesday evening, which is just 1.5 percent.

Republican Pécresse has not yet been supported by ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Zemmour plans to meet several thousand supporters at the Trocadero in Paris on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Macron, who has kept his campaigning to a minimum, is busy with international politics.

This week he is taking part in three summits in Brussels - NATO, EU and G7.

He also did not rule out another trip to Moscow or Kyiv.