splendor and misery in the HQs of the candidates

They were twelve on the starting line and now more than two: on the evening of the first round of the presidential election on Sunday, marked by a high rate of abstention, joy or disappointment invaded the HQs of the candidates.

On the one hand, Marseillaise, applause and cries of joy from outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who will face each other in the second round, for the return match of 2017.

But a completely different atmosphere in the HQs of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in third position, and the candidates of the historic left and right, Anne Hidalgo and Valérie Pécresse, the big loser.

Saying to himself “very happy”, a glass in hand at the Event Center in Paris, Rémy Mateu, 31, said “bet everything on Emmanuel Macron for the next five years”.

“He is the right person given the context between the Covid and the war in Ukraine”, he said, not saying he was surprised by the score of his candidate despite the “doubt” sown by the rumors of a tighter score shortly before 8:00 p.m.

If he thinks that “Macron will win largely as in 2017”, he believes that he will have to “campaign for the next 15 days and multiply the trips”, when he was criticized for having entered the campaign too late. .

Joy also in the camp of Marine Le Pen, who had gathered her troops at the Pavillon Chesnais du Roy, in Paris, in the middle of daffodils and cherry blossoms. Sign of the confidence that reigns in its ranks: bottles of champagne stamped “Marine president” were at the bar.

For Harald Ellefsen, 56, a steward by profession and long-time supporter of the party, Ms Le Pen had “much more punch, determination and ambition” in this campaign. “She will actually do something,” he says.

– Right “burnt” –

Conversely, a long silence invaded at 8:00 p.m. the HQ of Valérie Pécresse, who achieves the worst score of a candidate from the right under the Fifth Republic.

It’s the cold shower. The activists sigh, grumble when the faces of Mr. Macron and Mrs. Le Pen appear.

“I don’t believe in a break-up” of the Republicans, however, thinks a 22-year-old student, Benjamin Sapin. But “it may be complicated” to choose a new leader, “many currents will clash and it may create a stir”.

Hervé Cadoret, 62, goes further, annoyed: “I believe that the traditional right will be burned for a long time, unless leadership emerges. It will be hard to return to politics in France”.

Meanwhile, at the Cirque d’Hiver, disappointment tinged with anger was palpable among supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who misses the second round walk for the third time, even if he improves his score.

“I was hoping he would be in the second round. Ecology and social justice will not be in the second round of the elections. People are sad,” said Néhémy Pierre-Dahomey, 35, an activist who comforts a friend in tears.

“Angry,” said Elise Ballet, 33 and an oceanographer. “Against people who vote Macron, against those who vote Le Pen, and people on the left who don’t vote Mélenchon”. “In all honesty, he can give all the voting instructions he wants, I will not vote,” she says.

The other far-right candidate, Eric Zemmour, had brought together hundreds of activists, including many young people at the Mutuality, against a backdrop of classical music, smoke and blue-white-red spotlights, ties and evening dresses of rigor.

“Extremely disappointed, shocked, I expected more of a result around 15 or 20%,” laments Tanguy David, 18, a member of Generation Z.

“It was Zemmour or nothing, because I agree with everything he says and I even think he doesn’t go far enough,” testifies Albane, 18, who voted for the first time. She will still vote in the second round “against Macron”. Its candidate also called a little later in the evening to vote for Marine Le Pen.

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