“My champion will win! “And one, and two, and five more years!” This Sunday on the Champ de Mars in Paris, thousands of people gathered to celebrate the victory of Emmanuel Macron, re-elected for a second five-year term after the second round of the presidential election.
In front of an audience of journalists from all over the world to cover the event, many supporters of Emmanuel Macron gathered in front of the Eiffel Tower, waving French and European flags. 20 minutes was there and tells you about this evening.
“I wanted to give him five more years”
From 6:30 p.m., the site chosen by candidate Macron’s campaign team opened its doors to the public and the press. First, you had to show that you had to pass the search to access it, and throw water bottles and bottles of hydroalcoholic gel in the trash. Before picking up signs, tricolor and European flags at the goodies stand a few meters further on. Just before 8 p.m., the countdown begins. Long seconds of feverish waiting, before the crowd let their joy burst when they saw the face of the winner on the big screen. In the crowd, Miche and Pierre, in their twenties, can no longer break their smiles. “We are very happy! “says the couple. “It’s a fair result and in line with our expectations, even if we were hoping for an even bigger score for Emmanuel Macron,” adds Pierre. What do they expect from the next five-year term? “As young people, we expect it to be that of ecology, of a France turned towards youth, and of a strong France”, summarizes Miche. “And that he continues to work for peace in the world and the reduction of conflicts, but also employment, work, continues Pierre. I am convinced by the man, by the character: he had five quite difficult years and I wanted to give him five more years so that he could complete his project”.
A little further, Damien, 47, proudly wears his flocked “Emmanuel Macron With You” t-shirt, bought during candidate Macron’s meeting at the Arena de la Défense. “I’m proud to wear it, it’s the appropriate outfit,” he smiles. We were expecting this victory, so it’s important to be there to celebrate with people who share ideas with mine, to thank Emmanuel Macron for everything he did during his first five-year term and to give him courage to continue to reform”. Beside him, his brother, Fabrice, shares his jubilation: “Tonight is a joyful moment, you have to take advantage of it”.
“I hope our daughters will remember this”
Dominique and Bruno, Bordelais on vacation in the capital, came a bit “by chance. We followed the crowd and we thought it would be nice to come, explains the couple, who saw the inexorable progress of Marine Le Pen and the far right. So tonight, we are especially relieved ”. Cédric and Bérengère also came as a family, but with their two daughters, Victoria and Sixtine. “It was important to us to be there together because it is a page of history, indicates the father of the family. I hope our daughters will remember this when they grow up: it’s for them, for their future that we’re doing all this”. For Bérengère, the result of the ballot is first of all “a relief, because we did not want the far right to come to power”. It is also “the possibility for Emmanuel Macron to carry out his project, adds Cédric: his first five-year term was very impacted by the Covid crisis. Now, we hope that it is behind us and that he will be able to implement his program and reform France”.
And if the father of the family has renewed his confidence in the Head of State, it is so that he can carry out a reform which is not popular with all French people: “pensions: this is not a measure that sells dreams, that’s for sure, but you have to be reasonable, you know that, gradually, you’ll have to work longer. We must have the courage to reform and put everyone – private and public – on an equal footing by putting an end to special regimes, which are an aberration”. On his shoulders, Victoria observes the crowd. “It’s quite funny to be there in the middle of the crowd,” explains the little girl. But a few minutes before the arrival of the presidential couple, she is not particularly impressed with the idea of seeing the head of state re-elected. “I have already seen him in Le Touquet. My grandparents live there, so you often see him there.”
“I came to celebrate the victory of freedom and the defeat of Marine Le Pen”
As the music blares, Simon takes selfies with his friends. And makes a small place on the screen for a surprise guest: a photo of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Why ? “It is a militant and civic act. Tonight, I did not come to celebrate Emmanuel Macron’s victory, I came above all to celebrate the defeat of Marine Le Pen, the National Rally, racism and attacks on the LGBTQI + community. So I’m here to celebrate freedom! The young activist, who voted in the first round for the LFI leader and who abstained in the second, is preparing today for “the third round: the legislative elections. This is where everything will play out, other things are still possible. So, this selfie with the photo of Mélenchon, I will post it on my social networks, to claim a younger, freer and more inclusive France, through its program which sticks more to these values ”.
A few meters away, tricolor on his shoulders, Heverton sketches a few dance steps in the middle of the crowd. However, the 30-year-old did not vote this Sunday. “I am Brazilian, but I wanted to celebrate this victory with my French friends, to support the vote against the far right. As such, I am very happy with the result of the votes: in Brazil, Marine Le Pen is known, she is of the same type as our president. Jair Bolsonaro is Marine Le Pen in pants, ”sums up the 30-year-old young man.
“Macron is gifted”
At nightfall, the one everyone is waiting for finally arrives. ” He’s there ! “, exclaims a young woman, in the middle of a cloud of smartphones which immortalizes the moment. While walking, Emmanuel Macron, surrounded by his wife Brigitte and his close guard, smiles at the crowd and shakes a few hands. Before going on stage to deliver his speech. A speech during which he insisted that he was “the president of all French people”, before the crowd sang the Marseillaise. A sequence that sounded like sweet music to the ears of Frédéric, Vincent and young Gabriel, who listened religiously to the re-elected president. “It was so moving and strong,” says Vincent. It’s a great moment of relief, because even if the poster for this second round was the same as in 2017, the gap was reduced. For the forty-year-old, the choice at the ballot box this Sunday was summed up as follows: “We had the choice between two radically different social projects, with on the one hand a social project which consists in saying “The French first” so loudly that this becomes an aggression against all foreigners on our soil and elsewhere. And on the other, a project that carries an inclusive message, which is addressed to all of us, and which allows us to unite and not to exclude. What the Head of State had at heart to recall this evening ”.
In his gang, Frédéric cannot contain his joy. “We are so happy with this victory: Emmanuel Macron will still be able to govern for five more years and it is only happiness, because he is gifted: in terms of the economy, he is excellent, and in terms of symbols, it has real values, explains Frédéric. I think it speaks to all French people and that’s why we’re all behind him, and it’s party time tonight. Especially, adds Frédéric, that “if Marine Le Pen had won, we would have had a very different speech. So this victory is the victory for all of us”.
Source: 20minutes
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