The two presidential contenders in France have unleashed harsh assaults on each other in an aslast-ditch effort to sway millions of undecided voters ahead of Sunday’s election.
Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, is attempting to become the first sitting president in 20 years to win a second term.
He claimed that Marine Le Pen’s far-right was fueled by discontent and posed a threat to a society driven by hatred and division.
She claimed that his employment of old extremist insults was proof of his vulnerability.
In the second-round runoff, public polls favor the incumbent president, but Ms. Le Pen’s far-right party has never been so close to power, which is why the stakes are so high.
The rising cost of living has been the top concern in this election, from electricity bills and grocery shopping to the expense of filling up a car.
It was recognized early on by the Le Pen campaign, which has pledged a government of national unity to combat high living costs, as well as an immigration referendum and a ban on wearing headscarves in public.
“It’s Macron or France,” she has said simply to voters.
Mr. Macron’s message was likewise succinct: “This election is a referendum on secularism and Europe.”
He claims that Ms. Le Pen’s vision of a “Europe of Nations” will lead to the EU’s demise.
He claims that Ms. Le Pen’s vision of a “Europe of Nations” will lead to the EU’s demise.
In a television pitch to voters, he referenced the UK’s vote to leave the EU and Donald Trump’s administration.
“There are millions of people who concluded a few hours before the Brexit referendum that voting was pointless.
In 2016, millions of people did the same with Trump.
They awoke the next day with a hangover,” he explained.
Ms. Le Pen accused him of disrespecting both her and the people who voted for her, claiming that France had been in anarchy for five years and that civic peace and respect could be restored.
“With the same man and the same type of rule, we won’t discover it,” she stated.
For both candidates, the largest challenge is the significant number of people who are planning to cast blank ballots or not vote at all.
According to polls, voter turnout could be at its lowest level since 1969.
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“I’m going to vote blank because it’s my national duty to vote, but I still want to express my dissatisfaction with the system,” Edrisi, a voter from a Paris suburb, told me.
In the first round, just over half of the electorate chose the far right or far left, demonstrating displeasure with Mr. Macron’s blend of centrism and mainstream politics.
Moreover, one-fifth of voters supported far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who emerged in third place, just ahead of Marine Le Pen.
Many in France have not forgotten the gilets jaunes, or yellow vest protests, which erupted 18 months after Mr. Macron took office over gasoline costs and rising prices.
Ms. Le Pen has taken advantage of accusations that he is a president for the wealthy.
According to final surveys, the incumbent president will receive between 53 percent and 57 percent of the vote, therefore it’s unclear who those 7.7 million Mélenchon supporters would support.
According to a Friday Ipsos poll, 48% of those who voted for him in the first round favor neither candidate in the final round.
Campaigning stopped on Friday at midnight French time (22:00 GMT), and the two teams are now compelled by law to cease electioneering until Sunday evening when voting will take place.
As the sunset in Paris, one of Mr. Macron’s rising stars joined party activists in handing out flyers in a last-ditch effort to win votes.
“Maybe it will be one of the fundamental themes of a new Macron period if he is re-elected,” Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie said, adding that the administration was acutely aware that a disaffected public needed to be brought closer to mainstream politics.
Everyone in politics must think about how we make and implement policies.
. And if people don’t feel their lives are getting better, then they won’t see the use of politics and they won’t vote.”
