Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected as France president for another five years following a resounding victory over competitor Marine Le Pen, who received the extreme right’s largest vote percentage yet.
He won by a larger margin than projected, 58.55 percent to 41.45 percent.
At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, the centrist leader assured exuberant supporters that he would be a “president for all”.
“An answer must be found to the anger and disagreements that led many of our compatriots to vote for the extreme right,” Macron said in his victory speech. “It will be my responsibility and that of those around me.”
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“Many in this country voted for me not because they support my ideas but to keep out those of the far-right. I want to thank them and know I owe them a debt in the years to come,” he added.
He is the first sitting president to be re-elected in 20 years.
Despite her defeat, Ms Le Pen, 53, claimed that her large vote share was nevertheless a win.
She assured her fans that the ideas espoused by her National Rally had reached new heights.
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Far-right rival Eric Zemmour, on the other hand, pointed out that she, like her father before her, had eventually failed.
“It’s the eighth time the Le Pen name has been hit by defeat,” said Zemmour.
In 2011, Ms Le Pen took over the party founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in an attempt achieve electability.
On Sunday, she received more than 13 million votes on a platform that included tax cuts to combat rising living costs, a ban on wearing the Muslim headscarf in public, and a referendum on immigration curbs.
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More over a third of voters did not cast a ballot for either candidate. Over three million voters submitted spoiled or blank votes, resulting in the lowest turnout in a presidential run-off since 1969.
Although much of France was on holiday on election day, the poor turnout indicated voter apathy, as many grumbled with the idea that neither candidate represented them.
The BBC reported that voters who indicated they were casting blank ballots sought to punish the current president.
Macron said his government would have to “answer their choice to refuse to choose”.
Anti-Macron protesters gathered in a number of towns, including Paris, Rennes, Toulouse, and Nantes, to reject the outcome.
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