The former minister had never presented in an election before his victory against Le Pen …
- Emmanuel Macron has prevailed widely against Le Pen with 65.1% of the vote against 34.9% for the competitor (as estimated by the Ipsos institute)
- The candidate of En March! was unknown three years ago
- His victory will remain as one of the greatest feats in the history of the Fifth Republic
His five-year term may be a great success or a total failure. But whatever happens, history will not forget Emmanuel Macron account of a prodigious rise, seen and probably not soon to be repeated in French politics. Elected president of the Republic before his fortieth birthday on Sunday with 65.1% of votes (according to estimates by the Ipsos polling institute), the former Economy Minister exploding the record of Valery Giscard d’Estaing, winner of the presidential election 48 years ago in 1974. More impressively, it was repeated enough, Emmanuel Macron was unknown to the French three years ago, before he moved in the shadows from the general secretariat Elysee and Bercy.
Assess progress
In a little more than a year, his decision to launch the movement En March! from nothing aroused scorn and skepticism within the political class. His resignation from the Ministry of Economy in the late summer yet dispelled the last doubts: yes, Emmanuel Macron set out to conquer the Elysee. It is then necessary to remember the balance of power to measure the progress.
At the time, the FN is the first party of France by far as François Hollande appeared to be heading for a second term, and the republicans would soon give birth to a candidate who would naturally become the favorite of the election. Nobody really believes in the candidacy of the former banker, who use to work for Rothschild, whose policy has hardly seduced many in the Autumn, peaking at 10% of the vote.
Macron will then benefit from extraordinary combination of circumstances: the unexpected decision of François Hollande not to seek a second term, and the revelation of the Penelope case, which will permanently seal the fate od François Fillon, the champion of the right. Powered favourite in the polls, Emmanuel Macron becomes the only alternative to the FN to many voters, left and right. He held the elements of storytelling he intends to sell to the French, the story of a free man, free from the conventions and constraints of cumbersome parties, ready to rebuild political practice “with the progressive and pro-European stance.”
Won first bet
Targeted by his opponents who attack “to blur” of its program and the cumbersome variety of its support during the last weeks of the campaign, he still manages to win the first round, finishing at the top of the candidates.
The first days of the period between the two rounds start with the first doubts on its ability to create a membership vote facing Marine Le Pen, while the leader of En Marche! has already won the election on paper. His victory party at La Rotonde after his first round victory, with only a handful of his campaign, it is interpreted as arrogance sin, when it is not compared to the princely magnificence of the celebration of Sarkozy and his supporters at Fouquet’s in 2007.
The next day, the art image of his opponent acclaimed by the workers during a surprise visit to the Whirlpool Parking lot wobble a short time, but Emmanuel Macron catches the blow from himself scrapping for two hours with employees.
This is the beginning of a series of trips to remember the past lackluster FN to boost a weakened Republican Front. Visit Oradour-sur-Glane , and Brahim Bouarram tribute to this young Moroccan thrown into the Seine by a far-right activist, interspersed with a walkabout in the popular suburb of Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise ). The technocrat from the promotion Léopold Sédar Senghor finally restored the situation in his favor on the evening of traditional debate between the two leaders.
The beginning of the road
Faced with an agressive Marine Le Pen and distancing himself from the truth in his invective, Emmanuel Macron, failing to discuss the program background, managed to reach the end of the discussion without ever losing his composure or give in the provocation. His victory is emerging so far.
Présidentielle : Comment Marine Le Pen a multiplié les intox sur Macron pendant le débat https://t.co/cfuoY6HIgP pic.twitter.com/i21kyTRmiN
— 20 Minutes (@20Minutes) May 4, 2017
This is however only the beginning of the path. The candidate of En March! must now win the legislative elections, a challenge as many of the top candidates of En Marche! will now deal with the Socialists and Republicans firmly rooted in their constituency, in addition to the competition of the FN and France Insoumise. There will be time, then, to forget a painful campaign, and try to reconcile a France cut in two between cities and outlying countryside, between the West and the East. A huge challenge.
