Web Report
Paris: Now it’s time to face a run-off. The centrist Emmanuel Macron will face Marine Le Pen in a run-off for the French presidency on May 7.
It is reported that opinion polls have consistently predicted Macron defeating his rival in the run-off.
Both of them fought off a strong challenge from centre-right François Fillon and hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Another projection, from TF1/RTL, put Macron and Ms Le Pen neck and neck in the first round.
As more than three-quarters of the vote counted, official results put Macron on 23.23 per cent, ahead of Ms Le Pen on 22.83 per cent. Results are still coming in from big cities where he has greater support.
Whoever wins the next round, the voting marks a shift away from the decades-long dominance of leftist and centre-right parties in French politics.
While there are predictions that Ms Le Pen has long been seen as likely to make the second round, Emmanuel Macron’s rise has been swift.
Macron, a former banker, served as economy minister under current President Francois Hollande, quitting to launch a new party.
He has never stood for election before and if he wins would become France’s youngest-ever president.
A pro-European, he has called for gradual deregulation of France’s economy and a multi-billion dollar public investment plan.
Ms Le Pen called herself “the candidate for the people”, saying that the “survival of France” was at stake.
Le Pen leads the Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant National Front party. She has attempted to soften the party’s tone and brought big gains in the 2015 regional elections.
She has urged a shake-up of France’s relations with the EU, calling for negotiations followed by a referendum.
Ms Pen also wants immigration to be slashed and the closure of “extremist” mosques.
Mr Macron is widely seen as favourite in the final round of voting, and in a sign of the uphill struggle Ms Le Pen faces he soon won high-profile endorsements.