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2022 FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

‘My responsibility’: Macron vows response to anger of far-right voters

Newly re-elected Emmanuel Macron said in his victory speech on Sunday night that it was his responsibility to find a response to the anger of those French voters who backed the far-right - or who didn't vote at all.

Published: 24 April 2022 22:24 CEST

'My responsibility': Macron vows response to anger of far-right voters

French President and La Republique en Marche (LREM) party candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron celebrate after his victory in France's presidential election, at the Champ de Mars in Paris, on April 24, 2022. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Macron spoke on a stage at the Eiffel Tower to jubilant supporters not long after projected results declared him the winner of the 2022 presidential election.

The victory – by a projected score of roughly 58 percent to 42 percent – means Macron is the first French president in 20 years to be re-elected.

As in 2017 Macron walked on stage to the sound of Ode to Joy by Beethoven, which is the EU anthem. But he wasn’t in a triumphalist mood given the record score of the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

“After five years of transformation and of both difficult and happy times, a majority of you have placed your trust in me to lead our republic for the five years to come,” he told the victory rally in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Supporters react after the victory of French President and La Republique en Marche (LREM) party candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron in France’s presidential election, at the Champ de Mars, in Paris, on April 24, 2022. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

“I know a lot of our compatriots voted for me because they supported my ideas but also to block the path to power of the far right. I want to thank them and tell them I’m aware of the responsibility their vote puts on me in the years to come,” he said.

On those who voted for Le Pen, Macron said: “I’m no longer a candidate from one camp but the president of all.

“An answer must be found to the anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the far right. It will be my responsibility and that of those around me,” he said.

Macron also pledged a “renewed method” to govern France, adding that this “new era” would not be one of “continuity with the last term which is now ending”.

French President and La Republique en Marche (LREM) party candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron celebrates after his victory in France’s presidential election, at the Champ de Mars in Paris, on April 24, 2022. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

“That is my responsibility and the responsibility of those around me,” said Macron, gesturing to the crowd not to boo when he mentioned far-right voters.

He also acknowledged that he must find an answer as well for all those who didn’t cast a ballot.

“Today you chose an ambitious humanist project for the independence of our country and for Europe, ambitious in its ecological and social values, a project founded on work and creativity,” said Macron.

“I want to push forward with this project in the years to come, taking into account opposition and with respect to any differences.”

The 44-year-old, who came to power as France’s youngest ever president, secured victory promising more pro-business and welfare reforms but with a “new method” that is expected to be less top-down.

He had billed Sunday’s vote as a chance to “save the Republic” from the clutches of far-right rival Marine Le Pen, but will now face a challenge of uniting a highly fractured country.

Unveiling the essence of his programme for a second term in March, Macron offered a blunt message for a country famed for its lifestyle and long holidays, saying: “We have to work more.”

Macron’s wife Brigitte, who accompanied him to the rally, said: “France is the most beautiful country in the world, the problem is that we don’t always know it.

“I feel an immense emotion – and such a great honour that I can only hope to be worthy of. I have every confidence in my husband; he has a vision for the country and he will make it work.”

If he completes his second term, the voracious reader will be only 49 and is expected to pursue his dream of becoming a writer.

“I’m building up stories,” he told Le Point magazine last week.

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France has in recent weeks been shaken by a series of attacks on schoolchildren by their peers, in particularly the fatal beating earlier this month of Shemseddine, 15, outside Paris.

The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party has accused Attal of not doing enough on security as the anti-immigration party soars ahead of the government coalition in polls for the June 9th election.

Speaking in Viry-Chatillon, the town where Shemseddine was killed, Attal condemned the “addiction of some of our adolescents to violence”, calling for “a real surge of authority… to curb violence”.

“There are twice as many adolescents involved in assault cases, four times more in drug trafficking, and seven times more in armed robberies than in the general population,” he said.

Measures will include expanding compulsory school attendance to all the days of the week from 8am to 6pm for children of collège age (11 to 15).

“In the day the place to be is at school, to work and to learn,” said Attal, who was also marking 100 days in office since being appointed in January by President Emmanuel Macron to turn round the government’s fortunes.

Parents needed to take more responsibility, said Attal, warning that particularly disruptive children would have sanctions marked on their final grades.

OPINION: No, France is not suffering an unprecedented wave of violence

Promoting an old-fashioned back-to-basics approach to school authority, he said “You break something – you repair it. You make a mess – you clear it up. And if you disobey – we teach you respect.”

Attal also floated the possibility of children in exceptional cases being denied the right to special treatment on account of their minority in legal cases.

Thus 16-year-olds could be forced to immediately appear in court after violations “like adults”, he said. In France, the age of majority is 18, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Macron and Attal face an uphill struggle to reverse the tide ahead of the European elections. Current polls point to the risk of a major debacle that would overshadow the rest of the president’s second mandate up to 2027.

A poll this week by Ifop-Fiducial showed the RN on 32.5 percent with the government coalition way behind on 18 percent.