POLITICS
Apr 10: France presidential hopefuls
April 10, 2022 - French voters go to the polls in a presidential election to determine who will run the EU’s foremost military power and second-largest economy, as war rages on the bloc’s doorstep.
The first round on April 10 will determine the winner if a candidate obtains more than 50 per cent of the vote. Current polls put the leading candidate, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, at less than 40 per cent.
If no candidate crosses the 50 per cent vote threshold in the first round, the leading two candidates will then face off in a second-round on April 24. The candidate who receives the most votes becomes president.
The most likely pair to proceed to round two is Macron and his leading far-right opposition candidate, Marine Le Pen. Éric Zemmour, Valérie Pécresse and Jean-Luc Mélenchon trail behind.
Macron’s campaign team warns that he is spending too much time on the war in Ukraine and has become a distant establishment figure failing to engage with voters. He must spend more time meeting working-class voters who are likely to back Le Pen, said Macron’s interior minister.
“She is dangerous for the president, and she can win this election,” Gérald Darmanin said in an interview on France 5 television.
The latest polls give Le Pen, the president’s closest challenger, about 20 per cent in the first round, well below Macron’s 28 per cent. But that figure could enable her to repeat her 2017 performance and qualify for the second-round run-off. And in that final vote, Macron is predicted to have only an eight-point advantage.