French president Emmanuel Macron was re-elected back to office on Sunday according to results announced overcoming deep divisions among voters worried about inflation, the war in Ukraine and the impact of immigration on France’s national identity .
Mr Macrom garnered 58.8% of the estimated vote while far right leader Marine Le Pen got 41.2%.
Mr Macron, 44 years old becomes the first president to secure a second term in office since 2022 when the then president Jacques Chirac beat Ms Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen in a 64 point landslide.
Since then however, the country has fractured along economic, generational and geographical lines with wealthier urban voters gravitating toward Mr Macron and younger working class voters in France’s rural areas backing Ms Le Pen.
Mr Macron is now under pressure to unite millions of French who cast ballots for his rivals in the elections first round of voting, when more than 50% of the vote went to candidates of the far right and far left.
At stake is Mr Macron’s drive to consolidate years of pro-business overhauls to the French economy- from tax cuts to his loosening of rules on hiring and firing employees- that have fuelled discontent among voters who haven’t prospered under his administration.
