2017+French+President

=Presidential Run Off Election in France, Sunday, May 7, 2017=

On Sunday, April 23rd, France voted for president and had 11 candidates to choose from from among 11 different political parties. Since no one candidate won over 50% of the vote, the top two vote getters will run against each other, winner-take-all on Sunday, May 7th. The information provided below was edited by the teacher in Paris whose students Harmon French students write to as pen pals. Based on this- what do you think about the choices? How do the issues in France compare to issues in the United States? Who would you vote for?

We will vote via a Google Classroom survey on Friday, May 5th, and our results will be forwarded to our pen pals in Paris. They are also having a mock election, and will send us their votes.

This is a very important election in France in the wake of Trumps' election as U.S. President, and Britain's vote last summer to leave the European Unit... the "Brexit Vote". Populism is alive and well globally, and it is leading to more nationalism and less internationalism.

Here is the article. Please read this over before you post.

** The beginner's guide to the French elections ** By [|Doug Criss], CNN April 20, 2017

Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming vote. ** Why should you care? ** __** If you're in the EU: **__ The EU already has its hands full dealing with [|its impending divorce from the UK]. At least two of the candidates in this election vow to get France out of the EU too. Do you know who they are?............................................................................................

Could the 28-nation group survive the loss of [|two of its richest and most populous members] ? Probably not. "A French government that abandons the euro would be a far greater political shock than Britain leaving the EU," [|two analysts say].

__** If you're in the US: **__ There's [|a real feeling brewing] that this presidential election, just like America's, will bring about changes no one can fully predict. [|One political observer says] the French "have had enough of the left and right over the past 30 years" and "they want to throw the table over." An even more unpredictable world is something most Americans would rather do without. The two races have a [|whole host of truly frightening similarities] : underwhelming and alarming candidates, allegations of corruption, and gaffes. [|So many gaffes].

__** If you're anywhere else in the world: **__ See above how everyone hates too much change in the world. Also, anyone in a war-torn country in the Mideast or Africa casting a glance to France as a haven might find the door slamming shut. Immigration, [|especially from Islamic countries], may be the biggest issue in this election. Some of the candidates want to drastically reduce who gets to come into the country. [|One wants to temporarily ban even legal immigration]. Who are they?........................................................................................

__** If you're into the markets: **__ The two leading candidates have [|two very different economic visions]. One wants France to dump the euro and protect French jobs. The other is a champion of closer European integration. Markets hate, hate, hate volatility. Look at how it reacted [|after the Greek elections in 2012]. With the UK leaving the EU, France is the no. 2 economic powerhouse. And a change there will affect the market. Then the top 2 vote-getters face off in Round 2 on May 7. Yes, it's a two-step process. That's different from the US where a presidential candidate's fate ultimately rests on one day. And it's very different from, say, Indian state elections [|that are staggered over five weeks].

= ** Who are the two Final Candidates? ** = ** Marine Le Pen ** > > > > ** Emmanuel Macron ** > > >
 * Who she is: She's the [|leader of the far-right National Front party] and the frontrunner in the first round of voting. She's also controversial, mainly because of her party's history of xenophobia and anti-Semitism. She's tried to soften the party's image -- to middling success. In April, for instance, she said [|France was not responsible for the wartime roundup of Jews] who were sent to Nazi death camps. That didn't go over well.
 * What she wants: [|She wants France out of both the EU and NATO] . She wants to slash immigration to just 10,000 "entries" per year. She decries globalization and has vowed to fight "radical Islam." [|Sound familiar?] If she wins, she becomes the first far-right President elected in EU's history.
 * Fun fact: After law school she worked as a public defender and sometimes defended ... illegal immigrants.
 * Shocking fact: At age 8, [|she survived a bombing] that destroyed her family's apartment. The attackers were trying to get her dad, who founded the National Front.
 * Who he is: He's [|the biggest surprise] in this five-person field. He's a centrist whom no one really took seriously at first. He didn't have the backing of any of the major political parties, so he formed his own. And -- surprise! -- he finds himself right behind Le Pen in the polls.
 * What he wants: He backs liberal, yet business-friendly measures, to boost the economy. He wants to increase defense and police spending. He wants better pay for teachers and unity at a time where France is riven with fractures.
 * Fun fact: As a 17-year-old, he told his high school teacher that he'd marry her one day. [| And he did].

__** What are the major issues? **__ ** Economy ** France is in the economic doldrums. Unemployment's at 10%. GDP growth is weak. It needs a shock to the system, but the candidates, of course, disagree on what that shock should be. One of them, Melenchon, wanted [|a 100% tax on the rich]. Another, Le Pen, wants to drop the euro.

** Controversies ** > >
 * Le Pen posted violent images of killings by ISIS on Twitter (a no-no in France). The European Parliament said [|she could be prosecuted for that].
 * Macron's had to [| apologize for condemning France's colonial past] in Algeria and [|dismiss talk of an alleged affair.]

** Immigration ** [|This is the biggie]. It's what's driving everything else in this election. Many voters think current immigration policies have worsened France's unemployment problems and contributed to [|the deadly terror attacks] over the past couple of years. And, as in many parts of Europe, the far-right is riding the issue to popularity in the polls. ** So, who has a real shot of winning? ** Le Pen and Macron made it to the runoff. Then, Macron could trounce her with left-wing and conservative voters -- repulsed by the thought of the leader of the National Front running the country -- rallying to him. But remember, right up to election night in the US last year, no one gave Donald Trump much of a chance either, and now we call him Mr. President.