French election thread

[Bilge_Rat]

since the election is this sunday, I thought we could start a thread.

I speak French fluently and because of that can keep up with the reporting.

I always liked their system for choosing a President, a first round where everyone runs, basically a "jungle primary" and a second round where the two top contenders square off.

Usually, the race is between the left-leaning "Socialist" candidate and the center-right "Republicain" candidate, but 2017 is a free for all.

The current President François Hollande is so unpopular, he did not even run for re-election.

His replacement, the official "Socialist" candidate Benoit Hamon is so far behind in the polls, he will not make the second round.

The official "Republicain" UMP candidate, former PM François Filion is in the middle of a huge scandal and also will probaly not make the 2nd round.

The leading contenders are:

-Emmanuel Macron, 40 year old Boy wonder. Former "Socialist" minister who left to found his own party. He seems to be center-left. Think JFK, Bill Clinton.

-Marine Le Pen, the Front National candidate. Extreme right-wing. Think Alt-right/white-nationalist/Trump.

-Jean-Luc Melenchon, also has his own party, has been rising in the polls and has a real shot. Extreme left. Think Bernie Sanders.

predictions for First round results?

I will go with:

Macron - 1st
Le Pen - 2nd

Apparently, some Banks are so worried about the result, they have asked their staff to be at their desks Sunday night so they can react quickly depending on the results.