"This vote obliges me", assures Emmanuel Macron, but to what and to whom?

• After his victory over Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron, re-elected for a second five-year term, wanted to unite and appease the French.

• Aware of having won the election partly thanks to voters from the left and the right, and despite the rejection he inspires in particular from far-right voters, the Head of State promises to be "the President of all French people.

• Does he feel obligated towards voters who do not share his ideas?

  Will he carry social measures defended by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen?

  Not sure.

First words to gather, soothe, and reassure.

Comfortably re-elected this Sunday with 58.54% against Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron knows it, “many of our compatriots voted for me today, not to support the ideas I hold, but to block the far right. .

And here I want to tell them that I am aware that this vote binds me for the years to come.

I am the custodian of their sense of duty, of their attachment to the Republic and of respect for the differences that have been expressed in recent weeks, ”he admitted to the crowd gathered at the Champ de Mars to celebrate his victory.

So, his second five-year term, he promises to lead it by relying on "a refounded method", to be "the president of all", announcing "the beginning of a new era".

Is it really a new Macron who will take up residence at the Elysée for five more years?

And in practice, what does this vote oblige him to do?

And to whom?

Obliged by the Republican Front

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Valérie Pécresse, Fabien Roussel or even Yannick Jadot: on the evening of April 11, as soon as the poster for the second round of the presidential election was announced, many defeated candidates called on their voters not to give the slightest voice to Marine Le Pen, specifying for some that they would vote for Emmanuel Macron.

And at the polls this Sunday, Emmanuel Macron has indeed benefited from the favorable reports of the electorate of the left and environmentalists as well as that of the candidate LR.

Highly coveted, nearly half of the rebellious voters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon opted for abstention and the null vote.

But the remaining half largely preferred Emmanuel Macron to Marine Le Pen, 36% against 18% according to the BVA institute.

The re-elected president “shows a minimum of courtesy towards his opponents in the first round, considering the unconditional support he received from Fabien Roussel, that less direct but very real from Jean-Luc Mélenchon and “other candidates, who themselves could be accountable to their electorate, some of whom wonder if it was reasonable to have supported him,” said Jérôme Sainte-Marie, political scientist and president of the PollingVox institute.

"The Republican barrage has lost intensity, but it still exists", since "more than one in two voters who voted for Emmanuel Macron say they did so to block Marine Le Pen (56%)", underlines the pollster Adelaide Zulfikarpasic (BVA for West-France).

Obliged to win the legislative elections

And if many voters voted for him this Sunday on behalf of the Republican front, Emmanuel Macron knows it: everyone risks returning to their political loves of the first round when voting on June 12 and 19 for the legislative elections. .

A ballot to renew the composition of the National Assembly and again grant – or not – a parliamentary majority to the Head of State.

A battle of the “third round” in which Jean-Luc Mélenchon has already committed, who would see himself investing Matignon.

As well as Marine Le Pen, who sees in her unpublished score "a brilliant victory" and the manifestation of the "wish" of the French for "a strong counter-power to Emmanuel Macron".

And the two opposition leaders know they have a card to play.

Two polls carried out on Sunday showed that a majority of French people did not want the walkers to win the legislative elections (63% according to OpinionWay and 56% according to Ipsos Sopra-Steria).

After a five-year term marked by the Covid health crisis and that of the "yellow vests", the troops of the Head of State are in battle order to prove that Emmanuel Macron can indeed be the president of all French people, by breaking his image of president of the rich and emphasizing themes carried by LFI and the RN and dear to many voters.

“Basically, we want to go much further, much stronger on a certain number of issues”, purchasing power and climate in mind, assured government spokesperson Gabriel Attal on BFMTV.

We must "respond to the message of anger, concern, of millions of French people who say" I can't get out of it "", added the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire on franceinfo, confirming that the shield on the gas tariffs would be “maintained until the end of 2022”, and that the government was working for “the summer” on an aid device targeting large rollers.

"Telling voters who voted for him only in the second round that this vote obliges him towards them, that he has understood the issues that are theirs, that he hears them and listens to them, is a good strategy for the legislative ones, analyzes Jérôme Sainte-Marie.

This keeps it in a central position,

and can promote a better transfer of votes to LREM candidates at the time of the ballot in the event of local duels opposing walkers to LR, RN or LFI candidates.

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But in practice, it "doesn't oblige him to do anything"

“But in practice, his declaration does not oblige him to do anything, continues the political scientist.

Especially since these legislative elections, he approaches them in the best conditions: with more than 58% of the vote, it is not a victory, it is a triumph, which should be crowned with a renewed presidential majority.

Figures from the right and left are already calling on him to join his future government, he is not subject to any balance of power.

And the union of the rights, like the union of the left, does not seem particularly well to engage to put it in difficulty.

All this gives him absolute power, believes Jérôme Sainte-Marie.

When you are elected President of the Republic under the Fifth Republic, you are the leader!

And today, he now has all the levers of the Fifth Republic”.

Posing as "president of all" on Sunday, Emmanuel Macron, re-elected in part thanks to the votes of the left, also reached out to the voters of Marine Le Pen, believing that "the anger and disagreements which led them to vote for this project must also find an answer".

Will this five-year term be that of a more social policy, taking up measures defended by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen?

“With the reforms he wants to carry out, why multiply the social gestures?

asks Jérôme Sainte-Marie.

Especially since "in between the two rounds, the leaders of the most powerful employee unions - CFDT and CGT - signed a joint appeal to block Marine Le Pen, therefore to vote for him, although the one of its strong measures is retirement at age 65.

A measure dear to those who voted for him out of conviction.

All this therefore does not bode well for a social shift in the next five years”.

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