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Old 05-07-2017, 14:02   #1
LarryW
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French election: Macron 'defeats Le Pen to become president

I'm not a France watcher so I can't say I have any particular opinion about either Le Pen or Macron. Macron won basically 65% to her 35%, so there is that. The interaction with the current events in the ME will probably tell a lot, and there's the question of Macron's support of the EU and how Brexit is going to ring with France in the economic chambers.

I'm not optimistic. I'd like to be able to look at the big picture, the geo-political and the economic perspectives and gain an appreciation of where the world's military posture is headed in the next 5-10 years. I have a feeling which is not altogether uncommon in old men that we're about to re-live one of the world's great and horrible war epics. An epic from which our country will be forever changed on the other side.

Hopefully, I am like Seneca: "There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness it is in your expecting evil before it arrives! There is nothing so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness it is in your expecting evil before it arrives!"

Quote:
French election: Macron 'defeats Le Pen to become president'

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron has decisively won the French presidential election, projected results say.

Mr Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen by about 65.5% to 34.5% to become, at 39, the country's youngest president, the results show.

Mr Macron will also become the first president from outside the two traditional main parties since the modern republic's foundation in 1958.

He said that a "new chapter of hope and confidence is opening".

Mr Macron's supporters gathered to celebrate in central Paris after the bitterly fought election concluded on Sunday amid massive security.

The Macron team said that the new president had had a "cordial" telephone conversation with Ms Le Pen.

In a speech she thanked the 11 million people who had voted for her. She said the election had shown a division between "patriots and globalists" and called for the emergence of a new political force.

Ms Le Pen said her National Front party needed to renew itself and that she would start the "deep transformation of our movement", vowing to lead it into upcoming parliamentary elections.

She also said she had wished Mr Macron success in tackling the "huge challenges" facing him.

President François Hollande congratulated Mr Macron and said the result showed the French people wanted to unite around the "values of the republic".

The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says this is the most remarkable success story of how a man who three years ago was utterly unknown to the French public, through sheer self-belief, energy - and connections - forged a political movement that has trounced all the established French political parties.

There were scattered boos as the projections were announced. A few moments of quiet, uncertain chatter followed. Then supporters gave a subdued rendition of the French national anthem. Many were carrying blue-coloured roses - Marine Le Pen's chosen symbol.

The defeat will not have come as a surprise - the fact that such a small venue was booked is an indication that the campaign suspected it would lose.

There were cheers for Marine Le Pen as she delivered her speech. During an interview afterwards, one senior party official explained to me that a new movement would now be formed - he didn't give a name for it. Once I finished the interview, he raised his glass of champagne and said "Vive la France".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39839349
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