French elections

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After Defeat, Macron Faces Pressure to Build a Bloc

Parties at the extremes call for prime minister to resign

(Newser) - Update: France's opposition parties called on President Emmanuel Macron to assemble a coalition to fill the void after parliamentary elections left him without a majority on Sunday. Macron is unlikely to be able to pass his agenda, Reuters reports, unless he finds support elsewhere. The far right and far...

Macron Clashes With Le Pen in Key Debate

Polls show Macron came out on top, though many voters consider him 'arrogant'

(Newser) - Watching presidential debates and getting rid of incumbents are both popular activities in France, so the stakes were very high for French President Emmanuel Macron in his televised debate against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen on Wednesday night. The second-round face-off is "seen as the time when presidential destinies...

Challenger's Surge in France Worries US, Probably Ukraine

Marine Le Pen has closed in on Emmanuel Macron as she's toned down her rhetoric

(Newser) - Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared "a huge victory" this week that will keep him in office as Hungary's prime minister. Now White House officials are beginning to worry that another friend of Putin's could take over a US ally. Polls show that French President Emmanuel Macron and...

Anti-Racism Activists Beaten at Far-Right Rally

French candidate holds first campaign event, drawing demonstrators

(Newser) - Anti-racism activists were beaten up Sunday as far-right former French TV pundit Eric Zemmour held his first presidential campaign rally near Paris, a few days after he formally declared his candidacy in a video highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views. Zemmour has drawn comparisons in France to Donald Trump because...

Macron's Victory Was a 'Political Earthquake' for France

Macron has to govern a deeply divided nation

(Newser) - The pollsters were wrong once again with France's presidential runoff election but there was no surprise result this time: Emmanuel Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen 66% to 34%, a much bigger margin than the 20 points that had been predicted, Reuters reports. But 34% was still a...

France Just Elected Its Youngest President Ever

But headwinds face Emmanuel Macron

(Newser) - Emmanuel Macron will be France's next president, putting a 39-year-old political novice at the helm of one of the world's biggest economies and slowing a global populist wave. Polling agencies projected that Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen 65% to 35% on Sunday. Macron will be the...

As France Votes, Louvre Is Evacuated

Suspicious bag left outside courtyard where Macron planned to celebrate

(Newser) - Emmanuel Macron's campaign press office says a suspicious bag that prompted the evacuation of the courtyard outside the Louvre museum where the centrist French presidential candidate has planned to celebrate election night. Macron's team said a press room had been set up at the downtown Paris location and...

11th-Hour Twist in French Election: Faked Documents

Forgeries purportedly show Macron was involved with Caribbean bank

(Newser) - Allegations of fake news and hacking attempts dominated France's tense presidential campaign Thursday, with just two days left for independent Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen to win over voters before Sunday's high-stakes runoff. Macron's campaign filed suit against unknown source "X''...

Le Pen, Macron Clash in Ill-Tempered Debate

He called her the 'high priestess of fear'

(Newser) - The only face-to-face televised debate between France's presidential candidates turned into an uncivil, no-holds-barred head-on clash of styles, politics, and personalities Wednesday. Emmanuel Macron called his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen a "parasite" who would lead the country into civil war. She painted the former banker as a...

2 Outsiders Will Battle for French Presidency
Sunday's Vote 'Humiliated'
French Party Politics
THE RUNDOWN

Sunday's Vote 'Humiliated' French Party Politics

2 outsiders will compete in runoff vote

(Newser) - The election results in France are now final, confirming the political earthquake that has just taken place: Centrist Emmanuel Macron took 23.8% of votes in the first round, with 21.5% for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, the BBC reports. The two candidates will compete for the presidency in...

France Votes: 11 Candidates, Evacuation, Topless Protesters

It could be a wild day in Round 1 of election

(Newser) - A voting station in eastern France has reopened after being evacuated because of a suspicious vehicle parked nearby. Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told the AP that the voting station in Besancon was evacuated while explosives experts examined the car, but they deemed there to be no risk. He said...

Leftist Who Uses Holograms Rising Sharply in French Polls

Surprising ascent of Jean-Luc Melenchon in presidential race is rattling France

(Newser) - Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and independent Emmanuel Macron have been drawing the lion's share of attention as the French presidential election nears (the first round is April 23 ), but a leftist candidate who has used a hologram of himself to stump at campaign rallies is now gaining...

Socialists Secure Majority in France

Strong showing leaves Francois Hollande free to implement policy

(Newser) - As predicted , the left coalition led by the Socialist Party has cruised to a majority win in the National Assembly's lower house, taking 314 of 577 seats, reports the Wall Street Journal . The win gives the Socialists, who already control the upper-house Senate, total control of the National Assembly—...

As Sarkozy Exits, US Loses a Friend

...But François Hollande might be even more simpatico with Obama administration

(Newser) - France's election was something of a can't-lose proposition for the Obama administration. On the one hand, the US isn't pleased to see the backside of Nicolas Sarkozy, an ally so steadfast that in France he was sometimes called "Sarko the American." Sarkozy, after all, was...

Europe Finally Gets It: Austerity Isn't the Answer

Paul Krugman: Voters clearly 'wiser' than their leaders

(Newser) - Paul Krugman is applauding France and Greece for the results of their elections : "Time is clearly running out for the strategy of recovery through austerity—and that’s a good thing," writes the longtime critic of austerity measures in the New York Times . Austerity measures depend on a...

What Hollande's Victory Means for France
 What Hollande's 
 Victory Means 
 for France 
ANALYSIS ROUNDUP

What Hollande's Victory Means for France

President-elect has a packed first 40 days

(Newser) - Following last night’s victory over Nicolas Sarkozy , Francois Hollande will have to jump right in to his new role—he will be sworn in as France’s president next Tuesday, the BBC notes. What does his election mean?
  • Hollande has vowed to renegotiate the eurozone budget treaty Sarkozy championed
...

World Markets Tumble on French-Greek Elections

Investors fear fresh crisis in eurozone

(Newser) - Markets worldwide have been seriously rattled by the rejection of pro-austerity governments by voters in France and Greece . Asian markets plunged, the euro dropped to a 3-month low against the dollar in early trading, and oil slipped to $97 a barrel. European shares also tumbled and yields rose on the...

Hollande Wins French Runoff Vote, Ousts Sarkozy

Socialist looks to have won with 52%-53% of vote

(Newser) - Socialist Francois Hollande looks like the likely winner of France's tightly-contested runoff election today, according to early exit polls, defeating conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. Hollande edged out Sarkozy in the first round of voting, and early returns show him up with between 52% and 53% of the vote. Sarkozy,...

Sarkozy, Hollande Clash in Fiesty Debate

No clear winner emerges from bad-tempered debate

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy and challenger Francoise Hollande traded insults in a televised debate French media called the "Last Duel" and the "Final Confrontation." The event—the pair's only debate of the election season—ran to more than three hours long and while neither presidential candidate emerged as...

France's Le Pen Endorses ... Blank Ballot

Far-right leader doesn't get behind Francois Hollande or Nicolas Sarkozy

(Newser) - Far-right leader Marine Le Pen is refusing to endorse either candidate in France's presidential runoff and says she will cast a blank protest ballot. Le Pen, who came in a strong third place in the first round of voting April 22, told her supporters at a big rally in...

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