For the first time in modern French history, the runoff vote will not feature a single presidential candidate from a mainstream party.
On Sunday, tens of millions of people will choose between Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year-old centrist who, himself disillusioned with traditional political groups, founded En Marche! (On The Move!) last year, and Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate who until recently was running under the National Front party.
After securing her place in the final, Le Pen stepped down from the party, a measure she says will allow her to represent better the interests of "all French people".
Le Pen is the more obvious populist leader, her slogan is "in the name of the people". But Macron, too, has exhibited some populist tendencies.
He has repeatedly said he wants a new kind of politics, called for the reform of his beloved EU and set up not a party to the left nor right, but a "movement". That two outsiders won most votes on April 23 in the first round, followed by the Trotskyist-turned-populist-leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, marks a momentous change. Mainstream parties are breaking down. Traditionally, France chooses between two political bands. The left wing centres around the Socialist Party of Francois Hollande, an outgoing president so deeply unpopular that he made the unprecedented move not to run again, and Benoit Hamon, this year's candidate who came last of the major runners. The right rallies around The Republicans, which failed in the first round as its hopeful, Francois Fillon, was embroiled in a corruption scandal. While Macron, the strong favourite, caters to voters "between the left and right", Le Pen "takes advantage" of people's fears, such as concerns over the economy.FT: Here's who's currently leading in the polls for the French election run-off: https://t.co/4bMrNWXXP6 pic.twitter.com/Xowa0dM8IX
— Md Mostafizur Rahman (@mostafizuracca) May 2, 2017
?‼️?⚔️ #MarineLePen calls 4 Mosque closings and the elimination of Muslim Brotherhood in #France. #JeVoteMarine #frenchelection #Marine2017 pic.twitter.com/POdlKmPCXT— Onlinemagazin (@OnlineMagazin) April 30, 2017
The unemployment factor
Unemployment is at the heart of those fears, arguably the top voter concern. France's unemployment rate runs at around 10%, more than double the level of Germany and Britain, and higher than the eurozone average.
Macron has promised to slash that figure by three percent, while Le Pen says state-led industrialisation and greater taxes on foreign workers will boost employment.
Show tactics
Le Pen, a master of tapping into people's greatest anxieties, has railed around what she terms "savage globalisation".
At a recent campaign stop in the northern city of Amiens, Macron's hometown, she upstaged her rival at the Whirlpool factory, which is threatened with outsourcing.
As Le Pen posed for the media on the picket line among a sea of worried workers, Macron met in a more sober setting with union leaders behind closed doors.
Le Pen's campaign should have been more like Trump's, her father says. More on the French election: https://t.co/xOcjtq77xC pic.twitter.com/yWFL0JbYt6
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 25, 2017
Mainstream's profound crisis
Youth unemployment is around 24%, far lower than Spain and Greece but way off Germany's 7.7%, Europe's most successful employer of young people. And according to some polls, almost 40% of young people intend to vote for Le Pen.
But while concerns over unemployment have contributed to the populist sentiment of the French election so far, so too has the stark inability of traditional parties to address concerns that they are simply not engaged, perhaps proving the point.
