French presidential election | Final hours of campaigning for Macron and Le Pen

(Paris) Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen threw their last forces into battle on Friday, in the last hours of the campaign for the second round of the French presidential election, with a choice between two radically opposed projects and visions of the world in sight.

In view of the latest polls, the outgoing president, given the winner with 55.5 to 57.5% of the vote, is on track to extend his lease at the presidential palace at the Élysée for five years.

To the great relief of those in France and abroad who fear seeing the far right take the reins of a world power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and endowed with nuclear weapons, after the earthquakes populists of Brexit and the election of US President Donald Trump in 2016.

The German, Spanish and Portuguese leaders called on French voters to choose the “Democratic candidate” ballot on Sunday against his competitor, denouncing connections between populists and the far right in Europe and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two competitors are trying to rally the voters of the radical left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came third on April 10, hot on the heels of M^me Le Pen with nearly 22% of the vote. They are thus trying to ward off abstention which, according to experts, will be the great arbiter of the ballot, during school holidays.

“The greater the number of abstentions, the more the difference in voting intentions is bound to be reduced,” warned Martial Foucault, director of the Center for Political Research at the prestigious Sciences Po school in Paris (CEVIPOF), pointing out “a real risk for Emmanuel Macron”.

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 Mr. Mélenchon’s 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.

“Third round” in June?

Before a final rally in the afternoon in Figeac in the rural department of Lot (Centre), Mr. Macron said on Friday morning on France Inter radio that Marine Le Pen had managed to “advance masked”, but that “the fundamentals of the extreme right” were still “there” in his program.

M^me Le Pen, visiting the Étaples market (North), castigated the pension reform project of the outgoing president, who wants to raise the legal retirement age to 64 or 65, when she prefers maintain it at 60 to 62 years.

“The French, with Emmanuel Macron, will therefore take it for life”[perpétuité, NDLR] “, she said.

The televised debate Wednesday evening between the two qualified candidates for the second round revealed their deep differences on Europe, the economy, purchasing power, relations with Russia, pensions or immigration. .

Whoever wins, the legislative elections that will follow the presidential election in June are already looking like a possible “third round”, Marine Le Pen like Emmanuel Macron may have difficulty obtaining a parliamentary majority.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon has displayed his ambition to become prime minister and thus impose cohabitation, aiming for a massive vote in favor of the deputies of his party, La France Insoumise.

In addition, another third round could be played in the street, on the model of the popular protest against the yellow vests in 2018-2019, in particular on Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform project which crystallizes strong hostility in part of opinion.

If it is Marine Le Pen who reaches the Élysée, the tremors are likely to be felt on Sunday evening, with a dive into the unknown the next day.