Would Le Pen beat Macron in new presidential elections?

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
5 Apr 2023 23:29

Who will the French choose as their president if a new presidential runoff takes place this week?

People walk past campaign posters of French presidential election candidates Marine le Pen, leader of far-right National Rally party and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. (Reuters)

Would Le Pen beat Macron in new presidential elections? According to a poll recently published by French pollster Elabe on Wednesday, the answer is yes.

Conducted between April 3-5 on behalf of 1,808 participants polled online, the survey found that far-right leader of the Relais National party, Marine Le Pen, would win against French President Emmanuel Macron with 55% against 45% if a new presidential runoff took place this week.

The results show that Le Pen would have had a strong lead over French President Emmanuel Macron in the first round of voting with 31%, against 23% of the incumbent's supporters, BFMTV reported.

The results further revealed that 18.5% said they would vote for far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, while only 7% would vote for far-right pundit Eric Zemmour.

The poll was carried out on the assumption that the 2022 candidate pool would remain unchanged.

Last year, Macron got reelected after securing 58.6% of the vote over Le Pen's 41.5% in the second round of voting.

Macron's popularity has fallen to all-time lows in light of his controversial pension reform which has triggered nationwide protests and has seen police riot violently clash against demonstrators.

Paris and other parts of France have been witnessing mass protests and strikes in rejection of the Macron government's bill to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

France witnessed two no-confidence votes being handed to President Emmanuel Macron's government in parliament, one issued by Le Pen herself and the other by Jean-Luc Melenchon, the founder and leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise.