LESSONS FROM THE FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
The election holds lessons for Nigeria, writes Moshood Olajide
The French Presidential run – off election between the incumbent President of the En Marche movement, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen of the far-right was concluded on Sunday with the incumbent winning by 58.8 per cent. His opponent of the Nationalist Rally polled 41.2 percent.
Marine Le Pen who is contesting the French Presidency for the third time bettered her 2017 result statistically by 7.3 percent as her acceptance voting ratio jumped from 33.90 in 2017 to 41.2 in 2022. The incumbent president’s triumphant entry result in 2017 dipped by 7.3 percent as his acceptance ratio dropped from 66.10 in 2017 to 58.8 in 2022.
Absolutely, both candidates from the winning and the losing side are rewarded by the electorate in line with their blueprints presented during the electioneering period. The En Marche movement of Macron focused their campaigns on maintaining the unity of the French people, on environmental issues and on consolidating economic reforms to benefit the people while the far-right campaign’s fulcrum is centered on critically addressing the rising cost of living, French – first policies which discard the right to citizenship through birth in France and the banning of headscarves for Muslim females.
The Foreign Policy campaign blueprint of the candidates is however the decider of the election. Emmanuel Macron wants improved relations with Western countries like Germany, United Kingdom and the United States to be strengthened, including the French position in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Marine Le Pen on the other hand differed, stating that if elected, she intends to pull France out of the military alliance of NATO, maintain close relations with Russia and also slash France contribution to the European Union.
Immediately the polling result was out, Le Pen conceded, but saw victory in her defeat, declaring that her party remained the one to beat in the June parliamentary elections. Macron on the other hand was magnanimous in victory and promised to look into the grievances why abstention voting is high and why some of his supporters voted for his opponent.
The French Presidential Election once again reflects how elections should be won and lost including how democracy should work which is not apparent in many developing countries in Africa yet.
While Nigeria’s Presidential election holds next year, the principle of meritocracy of prospective candidates and battle of ideas are not the subject of discussion yet but primordial ethnic sentiments and geo – political configuration of where the Presidency should be zoned to.
It is imperative for Nigerians to understand that if the values displayed in the French Presidential election are to obtain here, it is for the people to decide themselves of what they want by setting the standards, and not falling for the tricks of politicians.
Olajide, a Policy Analyst, writes from Osun – State
