932: What Does Macron's Close Win Say About France's Changing Political Landscape?

<div>Assured of another five years in office, French President Emmanuel Macron made history on Monday, 25 April, by beating his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.<br> <br> </div> <div>This was the second straight fight between the two politicians and Le Pen’s third shot at presidency.<br> <br> </div> <div>But there is something deeply unsettling about these results — how close Le Pen, a long-time standard-bearer for the French far-right, got in terms of vote share with Macron. <br> <br> Le Pen scored better than she ever has, winning about 41 percent of the votes. The last time she stood for elections, in 2017, she earned around 34 percent.<br> <br> What is also striking about the result is the abstention rate of this elections, which at 28 percent is a slight increase from its level in 2017 but also the highest for a final round of vote since 1969. <br> <br> The nature of these results raises the question: if these voting trends continue, is France walking on a dangerous path towards electing a far-right president in the next election?<br> <br> </div> <div>To break down the election results and their significance, we speak to senior journalist and columnist Nabanita Sircar.<br> <br> <strong>Host and Producer: </strong>Himmat Shaligram</div> <div> <strong>Editor:</strong> Saundarya Talwar</div> <div><br> </div> <div> <strong>Music:</strong> Big Bang Fuzz</div> <div><br> </div> <div><strong>Listen to The Big Story podcast on:</strong></div> <div><br> </div> <div>Apple: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=video_description">https://apple.co/2AYdLIl</a> </div> <div>Saavn: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2oix78C&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=video_description">http://bit.ly/2oix78C</a> </div> <div>Google Podcasts: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.l