France: runoff between Le Pen and Macron – favorite is emerging

Created: 04/22/2022, 13:33

By: Daniel Dillman

A new head of state will be elected in France on Sunday.

In the runoff, incumbents Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will run.

• Presidential election

  in

  France

  : Emmanuel Macron runs against Marine Le Pen.

• Decision

  on

  Sunday

  : The latest polls point to a close race in the runoff election for the presidency in France.

• France election:

  All information and news about the presidential election in France 2022 in our new ticker.

Frankfurt/Paris – Who will lead the “Grande Nation” in the next five years?

48.7 million eligible voters will answer this question in the runoff election in France this Sunday (April 24, 2022).

President Emmanuel Macron and his challenger, the right-wing politician Marine Le Pen, will compete against each other.

The latest French election polls point to a tight race.

Incumbent Emmanuel Macron was able to extend his lead over Marine Le Pen in the last TV duel before the runoff.

16.6 million viewers followed the debate - most of them saw Macron emerge as the winner.

According to a survey following the TV duel, the 44-year-old was able to convince a third of the audience.

The French institute Elabe interviewed 650 people.

France Election on Sunday: Marine Le Pen changes course

In the only debate before the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron repeatedly emphasized the importance of the European Union (EU) for France.

Marine Le Pen indicated an about-face in terms of European cooperation.

Years ago, the right-wing politician was still a vocal advocate of "Frexit", France's exit from the international community.

Le Pen now speaks instead of wanting to reform the EU.

The 53-year-old also called for more national skills for Paris.

Marine Le Pen or Emmanuel Macron?

The run-off election in France brings the answer to the question of the future presidency.

© Joel Saget Eric Feferberg/afp

In terms of relations with Russia, Marine Le Pen also struck a different note before the elections in France.

She also supports military and financial aid for Kyiv in the Ukraine conflict.

However, Le Pen continued to reject an import ban on Russian oil and gas.

Emmanuel Macron accused his challenger of trying to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and making herself dependent on the Kremlin.

France Election 2022: Pensions and purchasing power are key issues

However, the main issues in France before the election remain purchasing power and pensions.

Le Pen wants to reduce VAT and stick to the retirement age of 62.

If you start your career at a young age, you should be able to retire at 60.

Macron, in turn, wants to reduce unemployment and thereby increase purchasing power.

In exceptional cases, the retirement age is to be raised to 65.

With increasing life expectancy, the pension system must be counter-financed, he said.

Long before the first forecasts, projections or results of the French elections are available, one thing is evident: the result is likely to be much tighter than the last time Macron and Le Pen met in 2017. At that time, Macron received 66.1 percent of the votes.

Le Pen accounted for 33.9 percent.

This time the two are much closer together - despite Emmanuel Macron's partial success in the TV duel with Marine Le Pen.

Recent polls put the incumbent ahead of the challenger with around 55 percent approval.

The current surveys at a glance:

Runoff election in France: Polls see Macron ahead of Le Pen

The decisive factor in the runoff will be how the left in France will behave on Sunday.

Your candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon failed in the first round of the election in France.

However, many of his supporters do not want to see either the right-wing Le Pen or the liberal Macron in the Élysée Palace.

Whether they choose the Macron compromise or simply stay at home is likely to be the decisive factor in the runoff election in France.

(dil/dpa)