The first round of the election took place on April 23,
with Macron gaining 24.01 percent of votes, and Le Pen coming second with 21.3
percent.
The 2017 election campaign became one of the most surprising, marking the
first time in the history of the Republic when incumbent President Francois
Hollande refused to run for the second term, and alternative candidates
outrunning the Socialists and the Republicans in the first round.
THE EIGHTH PRESIDENT OF THE FIFTH
REPUBLIC
The president of France is elected for a term of five years, with the
citizens that are 18 and older being eligible to vote. This year, at the 11th
presidential election in the history of the Fifth Republic, about 47 million
people are eligible to vote.
The polling station will open at 8 a.m. local time (06:00 GMT) and will close
at 7 p.m., with the big cities voting until 8 p.m. The first official results
will be provided by the Interior Ministry at 8 p.m., and if the dynamics is
clear, the name of the next president of France will be known in the first hour
after the polling stations close.
EMMANUEL MACRON
Independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, the founder and leader of the "En
Marche!" movement and the former economy minister, positions himself as an
alternative candidate, but still is considered as a man from the system.
According to his election program, Macron seeks to initiate a great
investment plan, envisaging 50 billion euros of public investment over five
years. The money would be allocated for a number of economic goals,
like training and acquiring skills necessary to find jobs, or the development
and support of agriculture producers. The funding will also be used for reaching
environmental and energy targets, particularly in the development of renewable
energy sources.
He
also intends, if elected, to try to eliminate the wage gap between female and
male employees by publishing a list of firms, which discriminate its workers
on the basis of gender, as well as to cut the corporate tax from 33.3 percent
to 25 percent.
Macron plans to reduce the unemployment rate to 7.7 percent from the current
10 percent by 2020, increase military spending up to 2 percent from the current
1.79 percent, and calls for a more active fight against terrorism. He has also
said that he wants to hire an additional 10,000 police officers and give them
more authority.
Macron is a firm supporter of European integration and considers defending
the interests of the European Union and its citizens his priority, especially
after Brexit. However, ahead of the second round he stated that the European
Union has to be reformed or will face perspectives of Frexit, as the French were
full of "anger" at the union.
As for Russia, Macron considers it a "working partner" on "regional issues,"
in particular on the Ukrainian and Syrian crises. Macron also supports the idea
of maintaining the sanctions regime against Russia, linking it with the
implementation of the Minsk agreements.
MARINE LE PEN
One of the key points of Le Pen’s election program is the referendum
on Frexit. The right-wing candidate has repeatedly spoken of the need to return
the "four sovereignties" – territorial, economic, monetary and legal.
The right-wing candidate calls for restoring the national border and leaving
the Schengen zone, as well as returning passport checks to the French borders
of other EU states and re-introducing the national currency within the first two
years after the election.
Le Pen seeks to reduce the number of immigrants in the country, in particular
by curbing asylum for requests made abroad in French consulates and decreasing
migration to a net 10,000 people per year. She also suggests removing birthright
citizenship and to make it impossible for undocumented immigrants to legalize
their stay in the country.
As for security policy, Le Pen calls for establishing "rule of order
everywhere and for everyone," promising to hire additional 15,000 police
officers.
The right-wing candidate also believes that France should not participate
in free trade agreements like the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA)
between Europe and North America, or the Comprehensive Economic and Trade
Agreement (CETA) with Canada.
Le Pen believes that France needs to reach balance in relations with the
United States and Russia, and normalize the relations with Moscow in order
for Europe to be able to "look into the bright future."
PREDICTABLE OUTCOME?
According to the latest Ifop opinion poll, Macron in expected to win the
run-off with 63 percent of the votes, while Le Pen is set to receive support
of 37 percent of the voters.
On Wednesday, following the last round of debates, opinion polls showed that
63 percent of viewers believed Macron was more convincing than Le Pen, and only
34 percent thought that Le Pen was more successful than her opponent.
However, with the debates being considered unpopular, the turnout is expected
to be lower than in the first round. This could work in favor of Le Pen, as her
supporters tend to be more active than those of Macron.
SECURITY
According to the Interior Ministry, "unprecedented" security measures will be
taken during the run-off, with some 50,000 policemen and 7,000 army personnel
being deployed to ensure citizens' safety.
Several protest actions are expected to be held by the citizens unsatisfied
with the election results, and such protests usually result in clashes with the
police.
Another issue is the security of the events planned to be held by the
candidates after the results are announced. Macron is bringing together his
supporters at the square in front of Louvre in the center of Paris, and Le Pen
plans to hold the meeting in the former hunting pavilion of last French emperor
Napoleon III in the Bois de Vincennes (Vincennes Forest) in the south-east
of the city.
