weta studios.
Judy: France's president
Emmanuel macron has promised to
unite his divided country after
winning
re-election for a second five
year term.
Macron defeated the extreme
right wing candidate marine LE
pen by a substantial margin,
although nearly 30% of the
electorate did not vote.
But LE pen still managed to
secure almost 42%.
And as special correspondent
Malcolm brabant reports from
Paris, macron needs to address
the concerns of huge numbers of
disaffected voters.
Reporter: Down with macron, the
banner reads, the robin hood of
the wealthy.
This demonstration may have been
relatively small, comprising
young left-wing protestors.
But it was an illustration of
just how fractured France is in
the wake of macron's victory.
The divide stretches across the
political spectrum
from hard left to extreme right.
>> There is a lot of figures
that show that Emmanuel macron
does not have a very strong
mandate despite his victory
yesterday, but I would say
though that we should not miss
the big picture.
And the big picture is that
Emmanuel macron has managed to
win his re-election something
which nobody has done for the
past twenty years.
Reporter: Martin quencez, deputy
director of the German Marshall
fund think tank, believes
Mccrone's leadership style,
derided as haughty and arrogant,
will change in this second term.
>> He clearly has a problem as a
personal individual.
There is an issue with macron as
a president, and he is clearly
aware of this because he wants
to show the frenchy people that
-- French people that his way of
being a leader will be less
brutal than it was in the first
mandate.
Reporter: At his victory rally
beneath the eiffel tower, macron
addressed those on the left who
held him in such disdain that
they refused to support him
against the extreme right.
>> I also think of all our
compatriots who abstained from
voting. Their silence signified
a refusal to choose, to which we
must also respond.
Reporter: Macron also
acknowledged that he must tackle
the concerns of the 42% who
voted for LE pen.
That means trying to reduce the
cost of living and perhaps
getting tougher on immigration.
>> Their anger and disagreements
which led them to vote for this
project must also find a
response, and that will be my
responsibility and that of those
around me.
Reporter: Marine LE pen regarded
her percentage of the vote as a
victory.
The extreme right has never
fared so well.
Her concession speech was made
through gritted teeth.
>> I fear tonight that the
five-year mandate that starts
will not break the disdainful
and brutal practises of the
previous leadership, and that
Emmanuel macron will not do
anything to repair the fractures
that divide our country and make
our fellow citizens suffer.
Reporter: While much of France
was relieved LE pen was
defeated, bartender wilfried
sandjo who migrated from
Cameroon worries that her
extremism will fester.
>> I almost wish marine was
elected because at least, that
way it would have been out of
the system.
Because it is still in France.
There are lot in France who are
still out there who believe in
her ideas.
We might as well get it out of
our system so that we are free
of this.
You know what I mean, so
everybody like gay people like
immigrants, I'm an immigrant, we
are going to live under our
hoods because she is still out
there.
Reporter: In republic square,
there were hopes that in his
second term, macron, a former
banker, can tackle rising
prices.
>> I'm concerned.
People by and large are worried
and are suffering and we hope
that Mr macron will pay
attention.
>> I hope he has understood that
it is -- that it is essential he
now thinks about others, not
just the rich but he also has to
think about the poor.
Reporter: There's relief in most
European capitals and Washington
that macron was re-elected.
A LE pen victory would have
disrupted nato and caused even
more turbulence for the European
union, much to the glee of the
Kremlin.
Macron does have the ability to
talk to Vladimir Putin about
Ukraine.
Although his diplomacy has
not worked yet, there may come a
time when that connection pays
dividends.
Following the retirement of
Germany's Angela Merkel,
Mccrone's -- macron's
re-election makes him the most
senior figure in the European
union.
But much will depend on whether
he can govern his own country
over the next five years.
He now has to put his words into
action. For the pbs newshour,
this is Malcolm brabant in