Emmanuel Macron is new President of France: Victory speech in photos
Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron promised on Sunday to heal France’s divisions after crushing Far Right leader Marine Le Pen in a pivotal presidential election that has given him a large but fragile mandate for change.
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Pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron promised on Sunday to heal France's divisions after crushing Far Right leader Marine Le Pen in a pivotal presidential election that has given him a large but fragile mandate for change. AFP
At 39, the pro-EU former investment banker will become France's youngest-ever leader but faces a huge challenge to enact his programme while trying to unite a fractured and demoralised country. AFP
Almost definitive results showed Macron winning 65.82 percent of the vote in the first ever election he has contested, far ahead of the nationalist Le Pen at 34.18 percent. But in a sign of widespread voter disillusionment, one in three voters abstained or cast a blank ballot. AFP
As the extent of his resounding victory sank in, Macron told a sea of jubilant supporters waving French flags outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, "Tonight, France won." AFP
Western leaders largely hailed the result after the shock of Britain's vote to leave the EU and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. AFP
Macron reached out to Le Pen's supporters in a plea for unity after a vicious election campaign that exposed deep economic and social divisions, as well as tensions provoked by identity and immigration. AFP
The result will resonate worldwide and particularly in Brussels and Berlin where leaders will breathe a sigh of relief at the defeat of Le Pen's anti-EU, anti-globalisation programme. AFP