Five urgent challenges facing Macron in his second term as French president

euronews.com:

Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential run-off will be a relief to all those who feared political chaos at home and abroad, had his far-right rival Marine Le Pen won the keys to the Elysee.

But the fact the centrist, pro-European president remains in power does not herald a smooth ride ahead.

France remains a divided country and despite his win, Macron remains a deeply unpopular figure among a large proportion of the population.

The president’s first term was marked by the “gilets jaunes” (“yellow vests”) protests, some of which bordered on an insurrection. It was buffeted by the Trump presidency, Brexit, further upturned by the Covid pandemic and finally the Ukraine war.

Macron’s second term may be every bit as daunting. Euronews takes a look at some of the challenges ahead.

First of all the president needs a new majority government. The country votes again in June in parliamentary elections. In 2017 Macron won a landslide off the back of his presidential win against a demoralised opposition, especially among the traditional left and right.

In 2022 he faces a stiff challenge, not least from the hard left “La France Insoumise” (“France Unbowed”) movement of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who finished a strong third in the presidential vote opening round.

Mélenchon has already set out his stall for the legislative battle ahead, cheekily daring the president to name him prime minister.

However, Macron could benefit from the electoral process, which for the parliamentary elections is also spread over two rounds. In the contest for the Elysee, he already hoovered up many votes from the now-shattered centre-right and centre-left establishment at the first attempt.

Another factor in his favour could be that Le Pen’s presidential