Explained: French Presidential Election And Who Is In The Race For Top Post

France is all set to conduct its Presidential election and the first round of the election is on 10 April 2022 while the second is on 24 April 2022. The latest polls show a tough fight between incumbent Emmanual Macron and Marine Le Pen, a far-right candidate. However, Macron is winning the race with a small margin.

French President Emmanuel Macron | Reuters

According to a survey by the Ipsos market research group, the two will have a much smaller margin of difference in the 2nd round of voting, projected at 48.5 % v/s 51.5 %, respectively.

Who can stand for the race?

A candidate can only run for the president if he/she is able to receive 500 sponsorships from about 42,000 elected officials including mayors and/or local councillors. For the first round, 12 French presidential candidates have managed to qualify for the run.

How does the election work?

presidential candidate Philippe Poutou speaks during a campaign meeting | AFP

In France, people choose their president in two rounds of voting. If no candidate is able to win 50% of the votes in the first round, the two candidates with the majority will go ahead and compete in the second round.

Top two contenders

The current President of France Emmanuel Macron has stood again for the current elections. Interestingly, after Jacques Chirac in 2002, no sitting French president has won re-election. The latest polls show that Macron is likely to get 26.8% of the votes.

Macron, an ex-investment banker became the youngest President of France in 2017. He belongs to a pro-European party, La Republique En Marche (LREM). Thus, his party managed to win votes from both the left and right. The 44 years old promised tax cuts, benefits reform and increasing the age of retirement.

In second place with 21.9% of the votes, Marine Le Pen is a veteran far-right candidate belonging to the National Rally party. She is 53 years old and this is her third Presidential election.

Proposals of contenders

Macron is one among many international leaders who are leading the international talks on supporting Ukraine. He promises to continue investing in the French military. Emphasising the decrease in the rate of unemployment in his term, he promised ¡°full employment¡±. Macron further vows to increase the retirement age from 62 to 65 and also raise the monthly pensions. He also promised to build new nuclear reactors and focus on renewable energy including solar energy. Macron said that he will strengthen the external borders of the European passport-free area along with creating a new force controlling national borders.

On the other hand, Marine Le Pen also considered the Russian invasion wrong and said refugees must be welcomed. Her promises include ending family reunification policies and limiting social benefits to the French only. She said that foreigners who stay unemployed for over a year and illegal migrants will be deported. Le Pen pledged to cut taxes on energy and essential goods and also raise the minimum pension. She promised to invest in nuclear and hydro energy. Le Pen vowed to make a law banning Muslim headscarves in all public places.

Some other leaders in the race

French leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) party Member of Parliament and presidential candidate | AFP

The 70-year-old Jean-Luc Melenchon also Known as the ¡°wise turtle¡±, a far-left leader of La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party is emerging as the strongest among the left-wing candidates. He is supporting a 32-hour work week and returning the pension age to 60.

The former TV pundit Eric Zemmour is also standing for the elections and managed to draw supporters from the mainstream right. He has been convicted of hate speech three times.

Further, The 54-year-old former budget minister Valerie Pecresse belongs to the traditional right-wing party of Les Republicains (LR).

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