What you need to know about elections in France

If none of the candidates wins the majority, then the runoff round will be held on April 24th.

The winner will be chosen between four women and eight male candidates. The new president will have the power to shape France and its key role in Europe over the next five years. Although the election has been overshadowed by Russia’s war in Ukraine, for most voters, the main issue in this election is the cost of living.

48.7 million voters have the right to vote in elections. Polls favor Macron, while Marine Le Pen is considered his main rival, while leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, according to pre-election polls, is expected to come in third.

Why are these choices important?

The two main candidates Macron and Le Pen have very different views in terms of foreign policy and approach to Russia, but also the European Union. They also have different views on public finances or foreign investors.

A Macron victory would mean a continuation for France, while a Le Pen victory would mean major changes.

Now that Britain has left the EU, France is the bloc’s main military power. It is also the second largest economy, and the departure from politics of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has given Macron a more important role in Europe. A Le Pen victory would put France at odds with EU partners.

The main concerns for voters, according to polls, are the sharp rise in energy prices and rising inflation. Polls also show that voters are dissatisfied with Macron’s economic policies, even though the unemployment rate is the lowest in years. Also, the way Macron has managed the coronavirus pandemic is expected to play a role in this election, despite the fact that restrictions against COVID-19 have almost all been lifted.

Below you can find out who the candidates are for the presidential elections in France:

Emmanuel Macron

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron during the first election rally in Paris on April 2, 2022.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron during the first election rally in Paris on April 2, 2022.
When he became France’s youngest president in 2017, his growing popularity came to an end less than a year after he launched a centrist political movement called La République En Marche !, aimed at challenging traditional parties.

After five years, Macron, 44, continues to dominate the French political scene, but in this election he faces a strong challenge from Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate, whom Macron easily defeated in the 2017 runoff.

He entered the Elize Palace without much political knowledge. Prior to becoming president, he held the post of Minister of Economy, but never ran for public office. A person close to the socialist president, François Hollande, Macron relinquished all political allegiance and many voters said that this fact made him stand out from the ruling class.

During his tenure, Macron has pushed forward controversial reforms. It has made it easier for employers to fire their workers, cut taxes and introduced tougher security laws to combat terrorism.

But the fuel tax in 2018 sparked mass protests, prompting Macron to drop his proposal.

Other reforms, including the promise that the unemployment rate would drop from over 10 percent to 7 percent by 2022 were not realized due to the coronavirus pandemic and unemployment in France is currently at 7.4 percent.

Now he is promising to cut taxes by 15 billion euros a year for households and businesses and to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65. This proposal is not at all popular because it is expected to increase the cost of living. His opponents have also accused Macron of relying too heavily on advice from US consulting firm McKinsey.

Macron also wants to invest in the armed forces, doubling the number of reserve forces.

What are the chances of winning?

Macron is considered the favorite to win, but polls suggest his rival, Marine Le Pen, has narrowed the lead and the two could have a strong showdown in the April 24 runoff. Initially, Macron did very well in the polls, due to his diplomatic efforts for Russia’s war in Ukraine, but voters are now more concerned about rising bills.

Marine Le Pen

The far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen.
The far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen.
Marine Le Pen was in the 2017 runoff against Macron and this time she is again considered his main rival.

Her family has been synonymous with the far right in France for decades. But in this election she is not the only one seeking the votes of the right wing, because of her big rival Éric Zemmour. Although some members of her team have joined Zemmour’s team, including her granddaughter, Zemmour has more extreme views on Islam and migration, which is why Le Pen’s approach now seems more moderate.

A political player for years in France, Marine Le Pen became an MEP before showing her presidential ambitions. After losing the 2017 election, she renamed her party the Rassemblement National.

Since then, she has had a message against migration, against the European Union, messages that have resonated with disgruntled voters.

Earlier she had expressed her admiration for Vladimir Putin’s Russia and was heavily dependent on debts to a Russian bank for her 2017 presidential campaign. Le Pen has condemned Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, while warning of the risk of sanctions on the economy French.

Le Pen, 53, has vowed to stop abusing her right to asylum through a referendum on restricting immigration. It wants to ban the wearing of the Islamic hijab in public places. It is also seeking to turn the EU into an alliance of nations not challenged by EU law.

It has promised to abolish income tax for people under the age of 30 and exempt companies from paying taxes if they raise the minimum wage by 10 per cent for most of their employees.

What are the chances of winning?
This is the third time she is running in the presidential election (in 2012 she came out in third place). If he manages to get into the runoff, as opinion polls suggest, Marine Le Pen will give Macron a real fight for the presidency.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, left-wing candidate.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, left-wing candidate.
The strongest left-wing candidate is Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a critic of Macron’s economic policies and a supporter of protests against rising fuel prices, protests that erupted in 2018.

Although few believe he can win the election, Mélenchon has waged a vigorous campaign, having large numbers of supporters at election rallies.

Mélenchon gave up teaching and journalism to join right-wing politics in the 1970s. For a short time he was Deputy Minister of Education in the Government of Lionel Jospin in the early 2000s.

After forming a new left-wing party, he became a Member of the European Parliament and this is the third time he is running in the presidential election. In 2017 he had won 19.6 percent of the vote. Mélenchon has also proposed raising the minimum wage by 10 percent, or 1,400 euros a month.

His program includes high spending and extensive constitutional reform. He has promised to lower the retirement age by two years to 60, while Macron seeks to do the opposite.

Critics accuse him of being too lenient with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he wants France to stay out of NATO.

What are the chances of winning?
He is considered the strongest candidate among the left-wing candidates. But his lenient stance on the war in Ukraine could lead voters to penalize him.

Éric Zemmour

Eric Zemmour during a speech in Paris, France in January 2022.
Eric Zemmour during a speech in Paris, France in January 2022.
A journalist, author and television commentator with no election experience and a conviction for inciting racial hatred would not normally be considered a suitable person for the presidential race in French politics.

But far-right candidate Éric Zemmour, 63, has built a career by positioning himself solely against what he calls a “politically correct consensus” and is now offering a “reconquest” – Reconquête – of France.

He entered the political scene in 2021 during a tour to promote a book about the “fall of France”, which he blamed mainly on immigration and Islam.

France bans a far-right group
He initially rose to the polls, offering nationalism that seemed harsher than that of Marine Le Pen. However, support for him has waned, as he has toughened proposals.

His plan to set up a re-immigration ministry to deport 100,000 immigrants each year, especially to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, has been condemned by Le Pen as “unfair” and “anti-republican”.

Zemmour provoked numerous reactions after minimizing the guilt of Philippe Pétain, the head of the collaborationist Government of France, in the Nazi deportations of Jews in World War II. Also, his attitudes towards Russia are shameful: in 2018 he stated that he dreamed “of having a French Putin”.

He also wants citizens of dual citizenship who have problems with the law to be stripped of their French citizenship and also demands that the wearing of the hijab in public be banned.

What are the chances of winning?
In terms of chances of reaching the runoff, he is unlikely, as far-right voters see Marine Le Pen as the most consistent candidate.

Other candidates in the French presidential election include the Conservative Valérie Pécresse, Yannick Jadot of the Greens, Fabien Roussel of the Communist Party, Anne Hidalgo of the Socialist Party, Nathalie Arthaud of the Left and Philippe Poutou of the Left. The center-right candidate, Jean Lassalle, and the liberal, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, are also running in the presidential election.REL

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