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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 MAY 2017 18 News Macron poised to win crunch French election JURGEN BALZAN THE 47 million registered voters in France today have a clear and binary choice between two distinct and opposing ideologies which mirror the cultural conflict which has tormented the country's soul for so long. Two fundamental issues are at stake in the second round of the presidential election: democracy in France and the future of the Eu- ropean Union. But the run-off exposes the deeper divisions within French society. The 2017 election is the latest battle in the long culture war that started with the French Revolution which pits "individual- ism" or "liberalism" against an il- liberal far-right, best represented by the Vichy government which collaborated with Nazi Germany. Essentially the Vichy government had the classic far right hatred of individualism, or what we would call liberalism. Individualism was deemed a parasite that "dissolved the nation". Instead the emphasis would be on natural communities – the professions, the communes, and the region and, above all, the family. Fast-forward 77 years and the liberal Emmanuel Macron is des- tined to become the youngest French president in history unless the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen springs a surprise. In his book Revolution Macron calls himself a "liberal… if by lib- eral one means trust in man". Le Pen, on the other hand, favours protectionism, supports economic nationalism, opposes the privatisa- tion of public services and argues for the "de-Islamisation" of France. The choice should be simple for whoever does not share Le Pen's values. However, the far-right can- didate poses a dilemma for many French leftist and progressive vot- ers because Macron is seen as one of the architects of François Hol- lande's most unpopular pro-mar- ket and antisocial policies, such as the labour law reforms, which dis- mantled vital workers' rights. "Either we choose to continue on the path of deregulation, of unfair competition and the free circula- tion of terrorists… Or you choose France. You have the choice of a change of leadership, a real one," Le Pen warned. If elected, the pro-EU Macron promises a hardened version of the very same reforms which have destroyed the Socialist party. If elected, Macron – the candi- date of the political and economic establishment – is expected to broaden the neoliberal economic policies of his predecessors which paradoxically create fertile breed- ing-ground for the far-right. In the final televised debate, Macron branded Le Pen an ill- informed, corrupt, dangerously nationalistic and "hate-filled" liar who "fed off France's misery" and would bring "civil war" to France. Le Pen might not win this year but she might have a real chance of winning in five years' time if unemployment, inequalities and marginalisation continue to grow. Le Pen, no less neoliberal than her opponent, on the other hand proposes an authoritarian and il- liberal model of government. The historic first round of voting redrew France's political map and Macron and Le Pen are keen to seize on the shifting political land- scape and have appealed directly to voters who, just two weeks ago, wouldn't have considered voting for them. Le Pen, who enjoys strong back- ing among young voters, blue- collar workers, provincials and the unemployed, has however always struggled to win over pensioners, executives and the college-educat- ed. Le Pen will need to bring in votes from voters who backed conserva- tive candidate François Fillon in the first round. Yet the former prime minister said in his conces- sion speech that he would vote for Macron. "There is no choice but to vote against the extreme right," he said, adding that extremism would "only bring sadness and division" to France. Hackers target Macron On Friday, Macron's campaign was targeted by a "massive and co- ordinated" hacking attack. Tens of thousands of internal emails and other documents, some said to be false, were released on- line overnight on Friday as the mid- night deadline to halt campaigning passed. Macron's En Marche! team said it was a clear attempt to destabilise the election. Faced with the "gravity of the situation" it would be taking all steps to throw light on who was behind the "unusual operation", the centrist movement said. The campaign said that genuine files were mixed up with fake ones in order to confuse people. The documents were leaked on a file sharing website late on Friday and the Macron camp condemned the action just before the official cam- paigning period ended at midnight. Macron announced two days ago that he was taking legal action after Le Pen made a remark implying he had an offshore bank account in the Bahamas. During the heated and sometimes venomous debate, Le Pen told Ma- cron she hoped "we will not find out that you have an offshore account in the Bahamas" – apparently a ref- erence to documents circulating on the internet that linked Macron to a Caribbean bank and were easily identifiable as forgeries. In the final hours before voting day, Macron extended his lead in the polls over Le Pen on Friday, the final day of campaigning. According to an Ipsos poll carried out on Friday, 61.5% of those surveyed intend to support Macron, who is well ahead of Le Pen (38.5%). While 24% said they would not vote, Macron is set to win the majority of votes which went to other candidates in the first round. For the first time in modern French history, neither of the two candidates in the decisive second round is from mainstream parties of the left or right. In the first round, Macron won 23.9% of the vote compared with Le Pen's 21.4%. 51% of leftist candidate Jean- Luc Mélenchon supporters, 46% of Fillon supporters, and 76% of Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon supporters intend to vote for Macron in the second round. While both Fillon and Hamon have urged their supporters to back Macron, Mélenchon, has not been categorical in his support for Macron. Some say they will cast blank votes, others have indicated they will vote for Le Pen. Unlike several other leading politicians, Mélenchon has refused to call on his fans to back Macron. Other polls this week showed that though 50% of Mélenchon's voters would transfer their vote to Macron, 20% would prefer Le Pen. Voters faced with two opposite visions of France as Le Pen and Macron fight for the soul of the country