Polls pique Le Pen’s aftermath: Voters’ lack of enthusiasm may play tricks on him | Abroad

Twelve candidates are participating in the French presidential elections this time. In a recent IFOP-Fiducial poll, Macron and his party, La République en Marche (LREM) received 27% of the vote. His lead over Marine Le Pen (the National Rally) has waned in recent weeks: the politician currently has 23 percent, according to the poll. Leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon (La France Insourmise) got 16.5 per cent, and Valérie Becresse (France) got 9.5 per cent, just as Far-right Eric Zemmour (recovery).

Since there is unlikely to be a winner who wins an outright majority in the first round of the election, Macron and Le Pen – the two candidates with the most votes – are expected to face each other again in the second round on April 24. 53% of the 3,700 IFOP Fiducial poll respondents said they would vote for Macron, but given the poll’s margin of error is 1.4 to 3.1%, there is a good chance Marine Le Pen will still win.

Macron is warning of Brexit-like turmoil and calls on voters to flock to the polls.

“The biggest challenge for Macron remains the potential lack of voter mobilization against Le Pen in the second round,” political consultancy Teneo said in a statement. Since the 1980s, the number of voters appearing at polling stations has been steadily decreasing. In the last election in 2017, more than a fifth of voters stayed home in at least one of the two rounds, according to French Interior Ministry data. Market research firm Ipsos predicts that a third of voters may not turn out this month. This will be a record.

“France’s biggest political party is the vote-nos,” said Mehdi Begadirny, deputy mayor of the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where about 40 percent of voters served in at least one of the two electoral rounds in 2017. He adds that refusing to vote avoids partisan politics because of a lack of interest or because politicians fail to improve their lives.

Emmanuel Macron, who started his election campaign very late, went to Spezet in Brittany today. “You can count on me, on my determination. I will seek the trust of our citizens one by one in the coming days and weeks to continue working for our country and for Europe in the years to come.” Macron stressed how important Europe is to France, criticizing Le Pen’s continued skepticism of Europe, without naming it. “Projects that turn their back on Europe are harmful and fatal to our future,” he said, ending with “Long live France, long live Europe!”

Since her defeat in 2017, Marine Le Pen has tried to build a softer image, positioning herself as a potential leader rather than a radical opponent of the system. Le Pen started her campaign months ago with small rallies in small towns. She has abandoned her plans to leave the eurozone and the European Union – which cost her many votes in previous elections – but still sticks to her skeptical position on the EU. The politician wants to empty the EU by prioritizing French law, replacing the bloc with a “European Alliance of Nations”.

Her campaign revolves around purchasing power – something that many voters worry about – but the anti-immigration positions of the far-right National Rally have not changed. Le Pen wants to end subsidies for foreigners, end family reunification, give priority to the French for jobs and social housing, ban headscarves in public places, and expel unemployed foreigners. “Being French should give you more rights than being a foreigner,” she said today.

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