France elected Emmnuel Macron as its President. He defeated Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist who threatened to take France out of the European Union. Macron has a business friendly vision of European integration. The emphatic victory of the 39 year old Centrist leader knocked out the dominance of France’s mainstream parties. It will bring huge relief to European allies who had been worried about a populist upheaval like the referendum in the UK which went in favour of Britain’s decision to quit the European Union. This landmark decision went along with the victory of Republican Donald Trump as the President of the United States who advocated a policy of America for Americans. Macron, an investment banker served for two years as economy minister but he is still inexperienced. He will be the youngest leader of France sine Napoleon Bonaparte and promises to transcend outdated left-right divisions. Although Macron had a sweeping victory, Le Pen’s party, the National Front, fared reasonably well though its anti-immigrants policy made it very unpopular in trade politics.
Le Pen’s high spending anti-globalization and ‘France first’ policies had an adverse impact on financial markets. But her party appealed to many poorer sections of society. This was expected to be effective against a background of high unemployment, social tensions and security concerns. Macron’s immediate challenge will be to secure a majority in next month’s parliamentary election. His political movement (Onwards) is only a year old and will take time to implement.
