The French vote in the first round of the presidential elections

On Sunday, French voters began voting in the first round of the presidential elections affected by the war in Ukraine in an atmosphere of uncertainty and expectations of a sharp competition in the second round on April 24 between outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, which was never close to this. Limit win.

About 48.7 million French were invited to the polls to choose one of 12 candidates in the first round, at the end of a strange campaign overshadowed by the Covid-19 epidemic first and then the war in Ukraine that dominated part of the debate.

Polling stations opened at 6 GMT in France, while some French in overseas lands began voting on Saturday.

It is assumed that the first estimates will be known around 18:00 GMT, after the closing of the last polling stations.

For weeks, opinion polls have indicated a large abstention from voting, and it is likely that outgoing President Emmanuel Macron will come ahead of Marine Le Pen, as in the 2017 elections, while the radical leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon comes in third place.

Numerous studies tend to show that Le Pen and Melenchon have been witnessing a path of progress for the past few days, which greatly reduces the difference with Emmanuel Macron, who entered the campaign late.

But the abstention, along with the fact that a large part of the electorate are not sure of their choice, makes all possibilities possible.

Behind these three candidates, other presidential hopefuls are far from achieving that, notably traditional right-wing candidate Valerie Pecres and another far-right contender Eric Zemmour.

In the second round, opinion polls suggest that Emmanuel Macron will win, but by a very narrow margin, over Marine Le Pen, which indicates that the victory of the far-right candidate is possible and sets a double precedent in the Fifth Republic represented by the assumption of the woman president and the arrival of the extreme right to power.

This first round concludes a months-long campaign that has missed the big stakes, especially climate change.

On the other hand, purchasing power was a primary concern of the electorate, especially as the war in Ukraine caused hyperinflation, further eroding the financial capacities of many vulnerable French.

- Abstention - The specter of abstaining from voting hangs over these elections.

Many political experts fear that the record set on April 21, 2002 (28.4 percent), the highest in a first round of presidential elections, and much higher than the rate recorded in 2017 (22.2 percent), may be surpassed.

In this atmosphere, Marine Le Pen campaigned from the outset on purchasing power, as did Jean-Luc Melenchon, whose party called on left-wing voters to vote "helpful" for it rather than other left-wing candidates such as environmentalist Yannick Gaddo, socialist Anne Hidalgo or communist Fabien Roussel.

In the face of the possibility of the nationalist right achieving victory, some candidates announced the position they would adopt on Sunday evening.

Fabian Roussel confirmed he would get in the way of Le Pen while Valerie Pecres announced that she would not issue directives but would say who she would vote for in the second round.

In the vicinity of President Macron, sources admit that the reaction of the "Republican Front" that benefited from it when he was elected in 2017, is no longer clear.

A majority advisor admitted that "just saying 'it won't pass' won't work this time."

After her defeat in 2017, and feeling confused for some time by the emergence of Eric Zemmour on the far-right scene, Marine Le Pen gradually overcame her stumble and regained her luster to the extent that she presented herself during her last rally organized on Friday as representing "Calm France" in the face of "aggressive" Emmanuel Macron and "" troubled."

The daughter of the right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen, the fiery rhetoric, and his political heir appeared as a "moderate" thanks to Eric Zemmour's hard-line rhetoric against Islam and immigration.

Confronting them, Macron started his campaign too late as he tried to present the image of a leader preoccupied with health and international crises, something that served him at first before making him appear detached from the daily concerns of the French.

Realizing the danger, the outgoing president, since the beginning of April, has called for "mobilization" against the far right.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news