Both candidates capitalized on popular disaffection with the two mainstream parties, the center-right Republicans and center-left Socialist Party.
Liberal centrist Emmanuel Macron and radical right leader Marine Le Pen are projected to advance to the second and final round of the 2017 French presidential election, AFP reports.
Mr. Macron is projected to win between 23 and 24 percent of the vote, while Ms. Le Pen is expected to finish second with between 21.6 and 23 percent by the end of Sunday’s poll.
In the French electoral system, a candidate must win over 50 percent of the vote in order to be declared president after one round of voting. If this threshold is not reached, the top two candidates face off in a second round held two weeks after the first.
Mr. Macron, a 39-year-old pro-European Union liberal running on his independent En Marche (“On the Move”) ticket, called the results of the first round historic, noting that it marks the first time since the second World War that neither of the two mainstream parties advanced to the final round. If he emerges victorious in the final round on May 7, Mr. Macron would be France’s youngest president.
The young presidential hopeful has never held public office and previously worked as a banker and economy minister. He described his En Marche movement as being “neither to the left nor to the right.”
Ms. Le Pen, on the other hand, is a staunch anti-EU, far right candidate running on the National Front ticket. She soared to popularity campaigning on promises to restrict immigration and hold a referendum on leaving the EU.
Both candidates capitalized on popular disaffection with the two mainstream parties, the center-right Republicans and center-left Socialist Party.
Francois Fillon, who ran on the Republican ticket, conceded defeat after projections showed him finishing behind Ms. Le Pen with 19 percent of the vote. He urged his voters to throw their support behind Mr. Macron, condemning Ms. Le Pen and the National Front.
“The National Front is well known for its violence and its intolerance, and its program would lead our country to bankruptcy and Europe into chaos,” Mr. Fillon said.
The conservative politician saw a drop in his support after allegations emerged that he gave his British-born wife a fake job for which she was paid roughly 700,000 euros ($750,000).
Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, who is projected to win 6.8 percent of the vote, similarly conceded defeat and called on his voters to support Mr. Macron, calling Ms. Le Pen’s campaign a “disastrous project that would take France backwards and divide the French people.”
His party cohort, President Francois Hollande, had announced that he would not seek re-election after a term marked by slow economic growth and a drastic rise in terrorist attacks.
Mr. Hamon’s campaign was dealt a severe blow by the popularity of his left-wing rival, Jean-Luc Melenchon, a former member of the Socialist Party who left to form the Left Party. Mr. Melenchon is projected to win roughly 19 percent of the vote.
