French President Emmanuel Macron has defeated his far-right rival Marine Le Pen by a comfortable margin in a runoff election, securing a second term.
Live presidential results shows that centrist Emmanuel Macron got 58.8% of the votes while Marine Le Pen got 41.2%. The French President only need over 50% to win the election runoff.
In a victory speech on Sunday evening, Macron said a simple “thank you!” and praised the majority who gave him five more years at the helm of France.
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Macron also thanked people who voted for him not because they embrace his ideas but because they wanted to reject Le Pen.
“I’m not the candidate of one camp anymore, but the president of all of us,” he said.
Marine Le Pen conceded defeat in the French presidential election also on Sunday evening, but still described her result as representing a “shining victory in itself.”
Speaking after the announcement of the first exit polls, Le Pen said she has nothing to complain about.
“I have no resentment or bitterness,” she said before expressing her gratitude to all those who supported her in both rounds of the election. The runner up also asked her supporters to vote for her party in the upcoming parliamentary election this summer.
It has been a long road for Le Pen, the daughter of five-time presidential candidate and far-right heavyweight Jean-Marie Le Pen. The 2022 election was the third one for her. In 2012, she came third with 17.9% of the vote, behind Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarcozy. In 2017, she made it through the first round but had to concede to Macron after receiving just under 34% in the runoff.
In the first round, Macron secured 27.85% of preferences, and Le Pen received 23.15%. Macron’s re-election has apparently come as a relief for a number of other EU countries, as ahead of the election several European leaders called on French voters to support him over his rival.
Macron would be the first French president in a generation to win a second term, since Jacques Chirac in 2002. He is the third ever French president to win two consecutive terms.
Early official results are expected later Sunday night. The final official results of the final round of presidential election will be released on April 27.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
