Three candidates appear to be leading in the first round of elections
French voters go to the polls on Sunday in the first round of the seemingly heated and potentially contentious presidential race.
Emmanuel Macron faces a competition from the far right led by Marine Le Pen, who prepared for this competition in a strong election campaign.
About 49 million French are entitled to vote in the first round, which will result in the selection of two, out of 12 candidates, who will face each other in a second round.
But four hours after voting began, only a quarter of voters turned out, the lowest level in 20 years.
President Macron did not dedicate much time to this race, while his focus was on Europe’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Perhaps the most prominent factor dominating the election campaigns in this presidential race is the sharply rising cost of living, especially energy bills and shopping baskets.
When Macron came to power as the leader of a new party in 2017, he was able to defeat the old contenders, and the two largest parties are still healing the wounds of that defeat.
Polls for both rounds put Marine Le Pen behind Macron by a very narrow margin
Anne Hidalgo, the candidate for the Socialist Party, is fighting to make her voice heard, while Valerie Pecres, the right-wing candidate, is finding it hard to inspire Republicans.
Thus, the main challenge for Macron, aged 44, remains represented by Marine Le Pen, 53, from the far right, and Jean-Luc Melenchon, 70, from the far left.
Some expect Macron to emerge as a loser in those elections.
“I still don’t know who to vote for.”
Voting in France and in the major cities of Paris, Lyon and Marseille began at 8:00 am (GMT) and ends at 8:00 pm (6:00 pm GMT).
There was a state of uncertainty over the days before the vote. An opinion poll conducted by Ipsos indicated that 37 percent of voters have not yet decided who they will vote for.
At first, the COVID-19 pandemic, then the Russian invasion of Ukraine, cast a shadow over these elections.
Ordea, a cafe owner in the northwest of Paris, says the election campaign has been going on for two months and there hasn’t been enough controversy. “I don’t know yet who to vote for.”
The old tradition of voting either left or right no longer exists. One of the merchants in a market in the capital, Paris, says that he has not decided yet who to give his vote – Marine Le Pen or Jean-Luc Melenchon?
Philip Prideaux, a former socialist elector in the southwestern city of Perpignan, says he has shifted to the far right.
“Because security is important, immigration is also important, and it is a current topic – and the left does not discuss it,” Philip told the BBC.
12 candidates run in the first round of the French elections
For many voters, the stigma of voting for the far right is no longer what it used to be.
After her disastrous defeat at the hands of Macron in the 2017 elections, Marine Le Pen renamed her National Front to the National Rally, although many of her policies remain unchanged.
Marine Le Pen appears more moderate than rival far-right candidate Eric Zemmour.
protest vote
“The electoral race has never been decided,” says Brice Tinturier of the Ipsos polling institute.
Turnout is key because poll organizers believe that 28 percent of voters may not go to the polls – as they haven’t in 20 years – and most of those are in the 25-34 age group.
Then there is the so-called protest vote – in which the voter leaves the ballot paper blank without choosing any of the candidates, as a matter of protest.
There is also the possibility of what is known as a tactical vote, in which voters decide to support a candidate because he has a higher chance of winning.
The phrase you hear everywhere is pouvoir d’achat which means ‘purchasing power’ but is known in English as ‘cost of living’.
Thierry, who lives outside Paris and runs a shoe store, says prices have skyrocketed. He notes that “the cost of shoes went up by 20% to 30% and the value of all taxes went up as well.”
That is why many candidates promise to increase the minimum wage, in some cases hundreds of euros. The minimum is scheduled to rise at the beginning of May to about 1,300 euros (1,430 US dollars) per month after tax.
An elderly woman casts her vote in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election at a polling station in Henin-Beaumont, France, April 10, 2022.
‘People are a little disgusted’
For Marine Le Pen, the spending crisis also represents a great opportunity for her in the elections. She spent less time talking about nationalism and focused more on lower wages, saying she would eliminate income tax for those under 30.
But Le Pen still wants to organize a referendum on restricting immigration, she wants to ban the Islamic headscarf in public places, and she wants to bring about fundamental change in the European Union.
Le Pen has distanced herself from Russia’s Putin, even though she had gone to see him in 2017, and has long said she admires him, and her party is still paying off a Russian loan.
By contrast, voters were alarmed that Macron’s government spent increasing amounts of taxpayer money on advisers like McKinsey. “People are a bit disgusted with who gets this money,” Thierry said.
Macron entered this presidential race late, with a march that came eight days before the start of the polls. As his rivals roam France, Macron has focused on diplomacy in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Macron began confronting his main opponent, Le Pen, shortly before the campaign time expired, denouncing her policies as racist and “extremely brutal”.
