French vote in cliffhanger presidential election amid apathy

Voters in France have cast their ballots for the first round of presidential election, a runoff rematch between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Polling stations, which opened at 0600 GMT, will remain open for 12 hours after France's overseas territories already voted Saturday.

No French president has ever won by an outright majority since 1958 except Jacques Chirac in 2002 who was the only to be reelected. If no candidate wins 50% of votes in the first round, the two contenders with the most votes will proceed to a runoff two weeks later, on April 24.

Sunday’s vote will determine who runs the European Union’s second-largest economy as the war in Ukraine rages on the bloc’s doorstep. France is the only country in European Union with a UN Security Council veto and its sole nuclear power.

The cost of living is among the top issues for the French electorate this year. Faced with the economic fallout of the pandemic, high energy prices and the war in Ukraine, French voters aren’t facing the election many expected.

Analysts say that a majority of French people feel the 2022 presidential election campaign has been of poor quality. Voters have complained of a lack of new political ideas or vision, and few solutions to their problems.

France may see lowest election turnout in its history: Poll

The French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) says 80 percent of the respondents felt the 2022 election campaign has been poor quality.

Polls predict that Macron will lead Le Pen by a handful of percentage points in round one, with the top two going through to a second round vote.

Macron entered the campaign late, focusing on diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin and an unpopular plan to increase the retirement age.

Le Pen, 53, has focused on the cost-of-living crisis. She is also campaigning to ban the Muslim headscarf from all public places, as part of her anti-immigration program.

Her victory would however be seen as a victory for right-wing populism and send shock-waves across Europe and markets.

Macron and Le Pen agree the outcome is wide open. “Everything is possible,” Le Pen told supporters on Thursday, while earlier in the week Macron warned his followers not to discount a Le Pen win.

The hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon is also rising in the polls, promising to freeze prices and overhaul the presidential system.  

Macron term ends with Islamophobia legalized, not just mainstream

Muslim voters have swung French elections in the past, and they appear set to play the same “kingmaker” role this April.

Policies on Islam and Muslims are one of the main issues raised in the election campaigns by all candidates, as France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim community.

Under Macron government, Islam has come to be seen by most French citizens as an existential threat to their “civilization”, “traditions” and “values”.

Dismantling French laicite itself, the Macron regime is replacing it with a new type of authoritarian, repressive management of Muslims and their religion.

Also, the most potent protest movement in recent French history, the Yellow Vest uprising looked at one point like it might bring a premature end to Macron’s presidency. More than three years after it was smothered, its avid supporters are counting on their ballots to finish the job.

Yellow Vests staged more than 60 consecutive weeks of protests against economic hardship, mounting inequality and a discredited political establishment.

The Yellow Vests’ protests were met with a fierce crackdown that eventually smothered the movement, but not the anger.

During the first months of unrest, dozens of protesters, journalists and bystanders suffered shocking injuries – including gouged eyes and hands ripped off – as a result of the rubber bullets and stun grenades used by riot police.

Mutilated Yellow Vests march a week ahead of Macron’s re-election bid

In an effort to remind voters of the past five years, scores of Yellow Vest protesters have marched in Paris. The first round of France’s presidential election is next weekend, with polls showing an increasingly tight re-election for President Emmanuel Macron.

The government’s steadfast refusal to question the police tactics, with Macron at one point saying “there is no such thing as police violence”, infuriated the Yellow Vests and further radicalized its diehard members.

The current presidential election has been described as a lopsided contest in which Macron is widely expected to prevail over a motley crew of challengers rejected by a majority of voters, even though his forecast lead over Le Pen evaporated before the polls.

Voter turnout has long been dropping in France and is expected to hit a record low this time around, with the Ukraine war hijacking most of the media’s attention.

Some 30 percent of voters may fail to show up on election day, according to some analyses.

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