Just before 9pm on Sunday evening, the last rays of sunshine above the Trocadéro illuminated the crowd of Emmanuel Macron’s supporters, who had gathered at the foot of the Eiffel Tower to celebrate the president’s re-election with more than 58 per cent of the vote. Glowing in the twilight sunset were the young and not-so-young faces of Parisians who, in the French capital alone had given the 44-year-old Centrist candidate 85 per cent of the votes. They were happy and relieved: five more years of Macron, the successful rebuffing of his far-right rival Marine Le Pen, 53. But the moment was as beautiful as it was brief.
For France’s jubilation at having stopped the Far Right from reaching the gates of the Elysées Palace for the third time in twenty years was short-lived. Democracy has prevailed - but the hardest part is clearly yet to come. After the results came out, protests erupted throughout the French capital, as well as Lyon, Montpellier and Toulouse; each a clear sign of the disenchantment in the country at large. Chants of “Ni Marine, Ni Macron” – “neither Marine, nor Macron” rang out. One thing was clear, President Macron’s in-tray is full: he must focus urgently on mending a deeply divided France.
