Emmanuel Macron waves from his car as he leaves his home during the second round of the election, in Paris.
(Reuters)
- A crowd outside the Louvre museum at a Macron victory party jubilantly waved red, white and blue tricolor flags at the news.
A crowd outside the Louvre museum at a Macron victory party jubilantly waved red, white and blue tricolor flags at the news.
If confirmed, the result would constitute a resounding rejection of far-right Marine Le Pen's "French-first" nationalism and dash her hopes that the same populist wave that swept Donald Trump into the White House would also carry her to the French presidential Elysee Palace.
A Macron victory would mark the third time in six months - following elections in Austria and the Netherlands - that European voters have shot down far-right populists who want to restore borders across Europe.
The victory of a candidate - Macron - who championed European unity could strengthen the EU's hand in its complex divorce proceedings with Britain, which voted last year to leave the bloc.
Pollsters projected that Macron won 65 per cent of the votes on Sunday. Le Pen's projected 35 per cent score was lower than her polling numbers earlier in the campaign.
Many French voters backed Macron reluctantly, not because they agreed with his politics but simply to keep out Le Pen and her far-right National Front party, still tainted by its anti-Semitic and racist history.
After the most closely watched and unpredictable French presidential campaign in recent memory, many voters rejected the choice altogether: Pollsters projected that voters cast blank or spoiled ballots in record numbers on Sunday - a protest of both candidates.
At 39, Macron would become France's youngest-ever president - and one of its most unlikely.
Unknown to voters before his turbulent 2014-16 tenure as a pro-business economy minister, Macron took a giant gamble by quitting the government of outgoing Socialist president Francois Hollande to run his first-ever electoral campaign as an independent.
His startup political movement - optimistically named, "En Marche!," or "Forward!" - caught fire in just one year, harnessing voters' hunger for new faces and new ideas.
In a first for postwar France, neither of the mainstream parties on the left or the right qualified in the first round of voting on April 23 for Sunday's winner-takes-all duel between Macron and Le Pen.
Despite her projected loss, Le Pen's advancement to the runoff for the first time marked a breakthrough for the 48-year-old.
She placed third in 2012, underscoring a growing acceptance for her fierce anti-immigration, France-first nationalism among disgruntled voters. The candidates' polar-opposite visions presented the 47 million registered voters. - AP
10 key moments in the most-watched election race
1 In November Francois Fillon pulled off a come-from-behind victory.
2 On December 1, President Hollande announces he will not seek re-election.
3 One January 25, criminal charges were brought against Fillon for abuse of public funds.
4 By early February, the 39-year-old Macron began polling better than Fillon in his bid to shake up French politics.
5 Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon surges in the polls in the final weeks before the first round of voting on April 23.
6 On April 20, a gunman kills an officer before being shot dead. Macron and Le Pen top the voting eliminating traditional parties for the first time since 1958.
7 A picket line at a Whirlpool factory in Macron's northern hometown of Amiens was the scene of one of the election's most dramatic moments.
8 Le Pen upstages Macron by making a surprise whirlwind visit to the workers as Macron was meeting unions to discuss the plant's future.
9 The two the face off in an often-vicious televised debate
10 Thousands of paper from Macron's campaign are leaked. Authorities warn anyone spreading the leaked information could be committing a crime. His team said hackers took the emails as part of a massive effort aimed at influencing the vote's outcome.
Security alert at plaza outside Louvre Museum
The plaza outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, where French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron plans a victory party if elected, was briefly evacuated on Sunday following a security alert, sources said.
A spokesman for Macron's movement said the alert was due to a "suspicious package."
The check was completed around 1230 GMT.
A police source said the area was cordoned off and searched by a police team "simply to banish any doubts."
Several hundred journalists who have been accredited for the post-election rally were asked to briefly move away from the site.
The Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, is situated on the banks of the River Seine in the heart of Paris.
The plaza is the square between the two long arms of the building, where its famous glass pyramid entrance is located.
The second-round vote in presidential election took place amid tight security. - AFP
Pollsters projected that Macron won 65 per cent of the votes on Sunday. Le Pen's projected 35 per cent score was lower than her polling numbers earlier in the campaign.
Many French voters backed Macron reluctantly, not because they agreed with his politics but simply to keep out Le Pen and her far-right National Front party, still tainted by its anti-Semitic and racist history.
After the most closely watched and unpredictable French presidential campaign in recent memory, many voters rejected the choice altogether: Pollsters projected that voters cast blank or spoiled ballots in record numbers on Sunday - a protest of both candidates.
At 39, Macron would become France's youngest-ever president - and one of its most unlikely.
Unknown to voters before his turbulent 2014-16 tenure as a pro-business economy minister, Macron took a giant gamble by quitting the government of outgoing Socialist president Francois Hollande to run his first-ever electoral campaign as an independent.
His startup political movement - optimistically named, "En Marche!," or "Forward!" - caught fire in just one year, harnessing voters' hunger for new faces and new ideas.
In a first for postwar France, neither of the mainstream parties on the left or the right qualified in the first round of voting on April 23 for Sunday's winner-takes-all duel between Macron and Le Pen.
Despite her projected loss, Le Pen's advancement to the runoff for the first time marked a breakthrough for the 48-year-old.
She placed third in 2012, underscoring a growing acceptance for her fierce anti-immigration, France-first nationalism among disgruntled voters. The candidates' polar-opposite visions presented the 47 million registered voters. - AP
10 key moments in the most-watched election race
1 In November Francois Fillon pulled off a come-from-behind victory.
2 On December 1, President Hollande announces he will not seek re-election.
3 One January 25, criminal charges were brought against Fillon for abuse of public funds.
4 By early February, the 39-year-old Macron began polling better than Fillon in his bid to shake up French politics.
5 Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon surges in the polls in the final weeks before the first round of voting on April 23.
6 On April 20, a gunman kills an officer before being shot dead. Macron and Le Pen top the voting eliminating traditional parties for the first time since 1958.
7 A picket line at a Whirlpool factory in Macron's northern hometown of Amiens was the scene of one of the election's most dramatic moments.
8 Le Pen upstages Macron by making a surprise whirlwind visit to the workers as Macron was meeting unions to discuss the plant's future.
9 The two the face off in an often-vicious televised debate
10 Thousands of paper from Macron's campaign are leaked. Authorities warn anyone spreading the leaked information could be committing a crime. His team said hackers took the emails as part of a massive effort aimed at influencing the vote's outcome.
Security alert at plaza outside Louvre Museum
The plaza outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, where French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron plans a victory party if elected, was briefly evacuated on Sunday following a security alert, sources said.
A spokesman for Macron's movement said the alert was due to a "suspicious package."
The check was completed around 1230 GMT.
A police source said the area was cordoned off and searched by a police team "simply to banish any doubts."
Several hundred journalists who have been accredited for the post-election rally were asked to briefly move away from the site.
The Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, is situated on the banks of the River Seine in the heart of Paris.
The plaza is the square between the two long arms of the building, where its famous glass pyramid entrance is located.
The second-round vote in presidential election took place amid tight security. - AFP
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