France-Presidential: D-1 before an election of capital importance for democracy
Electoral silence on this last day before the presidential election in France. The two candidates running in the second round are on the home stretch and the French have never been so divided on such an important election for the future of their country.
The latest polls stopped on Friday give Emmanuel Macron, candidate for re-election, ahead of Marine Le Pen, but the gap between the two is closing.
This year, as in 2017, the match will be between the centrist candidate and the far-right candidate. Two people that everything opposes, two programs for France that everything opposes, but this year, the stakes are even more important, because the far right has never been so close to power as it is today.
This vote is of capital importance for French democracy, a vote which will be a test for the solidity of the Republic, and for living it together, for the values of France, but also will determine the important issues for the future of the country.
Because if Emmanuel Macron is a pro-European and believes that France is stronger within the European Union, Marine Le Pen as for her wants to isolate the country from the European bloc, which should have serious consequences for the French, the smallest of which would be difficulties in traveling as they would lose their EU passport.
The outgoing president is at the top of the voting intentions, with 56.5%, of the second round of the ballot, while the far-right candidate would collect 43.5%, according to an Ipsos-Sopra Steria poll. But Marine Le Pen receives a lot of enthusiasm from racist activists on the one hand and simply anti-Macron voters on the other.
The representative of the National Rally (ex Front National) is at the highest level she has ever met and the level of abstention or white vote will automatically be in her favour. The two candidates fear a demobilization of the electorate, especially during the holiday period.
Some 48.7 million voters are called to the polls on Sunday from 06:00 GMT to decide between them.
The campaign was largely overshadowed by the health crisis and then the war in Ukraine, which is affecting purchasing power, the primary concern of the French, due to the repercussions of the conflict on energy and food prices.
To attract Mélenchon voters, Marine Le Pen promised to protect the most vulnerable while Emmanuel Macron made a sharp left turn, pledging to put ecology at the center of his action.
The televised debate between the two rounds on Wednesday evening showed that the two candidates had deep differences on Europe, the economy, purchasing power, relations with Russia, pensions or immigration .
Everything will change for job seekers, young people, ecology, France’s sovereignty and its power at European Union level, depending on the results of the votes.
The outcome of this duel cringed several citizens who were afraid of the consequences of a major non-vote. If some believed in the populist promises of Marine Le Pen, many know that this is not the case. Experts have found that his promises were inapplicable and therefore misleading, particularly on the economy, wages, purchasing power, energy.
Even if the far-right candidate is the opposite of Emmanuel Macron, she is even more so of the voters of La France Insoumise (LFI), the electorate of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. However, she has tried in recent days to rally them to her cause.
In her travels across France, she has never ceased to try to court the voters who represent 22% of the votes in the first round. Between her and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, only 1.1 point difference and could have lifted him to the second round.
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