Emmanuel Macron has defeated his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, in the French presidential polls as he vowed to unite a divided France.
According to the official results, Macron received 58.55% votes while his rival Pen secured 41.45% vote share.
Macron said in his victory speech that he wanted to be ‘the president for everyone.’ He said, “An answer must be found to the anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the extreme right.” He added, “It will be my responsibility and that of those around me.”
The second round of voting witnessed a considerable apathy by the voters, resulting in a turnout of just 72%. This was the lowest in a presidential election for 53 years. More than three million voters had chosen to either spoil their votes or choose no one. This meant that one in three vote was either spoilt or blank.
Recognising the gravity of this protest, Macron said that his government would have to ‘answer their choice to refuse to choose.’
A large section of Muslims in France appeared to be unhappy with Macron for his perceived anti-Muslim policies in the last five year even though they grudgingly supported him since the option of voting for Le Pen did not arise.According to a report by the BBC, a large section of young voters were said to have avoided the second round.
Reacting to Macron’s victory, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “Congratulations to @EmmanuelMacron on your re-election as President of France. France is one of our closest and most important allies. I look forward to continuing to work together on the issues which matter most to our two countries and to the world.”
Ukraine President olodymr Zelensky also congratulated hois ‘true friend’ Macron on his election victory. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Together we will move France and Europe forward.”