Macron wins first round of France’s presidential election

PARIS AFP April 11-Emmanuel Macron won 27.85 percent of votes in the first round of France’s presidential election, while far-right veteran Marine Le Pen scored 23.15 percent, according to final results from the interior ministry on Monday.  

As the top two finishers, they advance to a second round on April 24.  

The duel between Macron and Le Pen is a re-run of the 2017 election final from which Macron emerged victorious with 66 percent -but this time polls predict a closer contest.  

Macron “is no longer the new candidate representing a kind of freshness” while Le Pen “is no longer the person people automatically reject”, said Brice Tenturier, a political scientist.   

Turnout reached 73.69 percent, resulting in abstentions of 26.31 percent -- up four percentage points from the abstentions of 22.2 percent in the first round of 2017, which also saw Macron and Le Pen advance to the run-off.