French Election: Emmanuel Macron elected as President of France

Thirty-nine-year-old Emmanuel Macron has been elected as the president of France. He has become the youngest President and occupant of the Élysée Palace. He is also the first President of France outside of that country’s two traditional main parties. Macron defeated Marine Le Pen, his far-right opponent by securing about 19.3 million votes, while Ms Le Pen secured about 10.4 million. With the victory, Macron is poised to become one of Europe’s most powerful leaders. Macron has a highly promising agenda of political and economic reform for France and the European Union. Unlike his opponent Marine Le Pen, who threatened to pull out of the European Union, Macron holds a business-friendly vision of European integration. This has brought huge relief to the European Union nations who feared that France may follow Britain’s steps in exiting the EU.
Emmanuel Macron was the former investment banker. He had served for two years as the French economy minister. However, he has never held elected office so far. Emmanuel Macron’s movement called ‘En Marche’ counts more than 200,000 followers.
Though defeated, his opponent Le Pen’s National Front (FN) has managed to secure a good performance. Le Pen during her campaign made attacks on Islamic fundamentalism, immigration, and propounded close ties with Russia. Her “France-first’ policies appealed to many poorer members of the French society.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2017