Police Teargas Protestors In Paris After Emmanuel Macron Wins French Polls
Although Macron won by a comfortable margin, the abstention rate was expected to settle at the highest since 1969, with a substantial chunk of voters unwilling to vote for either Macron or Le Pen.
Paris: Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of France after President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election was re-elected on Sunday. Riot police charged and sprayed teargas on demonstrators in central Paris, footage from social media showed. Police sought to break up a crowd of mostly young people who had gathered in the central neighbourhood of Chatelet to protest, news agency Reuters reported.
Also Read:
Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a runoff vote earlier on Sunday by winning a second five-year term and preventing what would otherwise have been a major political upset. Macron’s victory triggered relief among allies that the nuclear-armed power won’t abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine from European Union and NATO efforts to punish and contain Russia’s military expansionism.
In France, there were large-scale & loud and aggressive protests of people who have not come to terms with the victory of Macron. #FranceElections2022 #france pic.twitter.com/4tpYhFscbF
— Worldnews_NWS (@WorldnewsNws) April 25, 2022
French police charge on the crowds in Paris amid bottles rain down on them .
Protests Over Emmanuel Macron Victory as President. #France #Paris #presidentielles2022 #LePen pic.twitter.com/jC7T5ayvOL— TriDent Updatès 🇮🇳 (@TridentAnalysis) April 25, 2022
Why people are protesting in France?
Although Macron won by a comfortable margin, the abstention rate was expected to settle at the highest since 1969, with a substantial chunk of voters unwilling to vote for either Macron or Le Pen, reported news agency Reuters.
Between the first round of voting and Sunday’s runoff, students protested outside the Sorbonne in Paris and other universities, expressing their disillusionment with the choice on offer.
There have been quite the protests in France after the election results tonight. Monument says antifa 🤔 pic.twitter.com/y842d9Bg9R
— Gianna 🇺🇦 (@dopamined0) April 25, 2022
Acknowledging that “numerous” voters cast ballots for him simply to keep out the fiercely nationalist far-right Le Pen, Macron pledged to reunite the country that is “filled with so many doubts, so many divisions” and work to assuage the anger of French voters that fed Le Pen’s campaign.
During her campaign, Le Pen pledged to dilute French ties with the 27-nation EU, NATO and Germany, moves that would have shaken Europe’s security architecture as the continent deals with its worst conflict since World War II. Le Pen also spoke against EU sanctions on Russian energy supplies and faced scrutiny during the campaign over her previous friendliness with the Kremlin.
(With Agency inputs)