Macron seeks to heal French divisions

Macron seeks to heal French divisions

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron sought to unite a deeply divided nation Monday after winning re-election in a battle against rival Marine Le Pen that saw the far right come its closest yet to taking power. Centrist Macron won 58.54 percent of the vote in the second-round run-off compared with 41.46 for Le Pen, according to final results from the interior ministry. Macron is the first French president in two decades to win a second term and his victory prompted a sigh of relief throughout Europe that the far right had again been thwarted from taking power in the key EU state.

But his latest victory over his far-right rival was narrower than their last face-off in 2017 when Macron won over 66 percent, and Le Pen’s result was the best ever for the far right. The president already has a daunting in-tray, ranging from preparing for parliamentary elections as soon as June to implementing explosive pension reform plans and dealing with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

‘Everybody’s president’

Addressing supporters in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower late Sunday, Macron vowed to heal rifts in a deeply divided country. “From now on, I am not the candidate of one camp, but everybody’s