What will the French president’s second term look like?

Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected president of France for a second term.

He is the first person in 20 years to achieve the feat.

But the result from the second-round runoff seems more a sigh of relief than a grand victory.

Macron defeated Marine Le Pen, who achieved the strongest ever result for a far-right candidate.

The abstention rate was 28 percent, the highest since 1969.

Macron promised to be a president for everyone, including those who only voted for him to keep Le Pen out.

Attention now turns to the legislative elections in June, where both the far right and far left hope to win more seats and put pressure on Macron’s agenda.

So how will Macron deal with the challenges?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Thomas Guénolé – Political scientist

Gesine Weber – Programme coordinator, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Paris Office

Aurelien Mondon – Senior lecturer in politics, University of Bath