Mix of aspiration, caution as France elects youngest ever president

Centrist Emmanuel Macron will become the new occupant of the Elysee Palace for the next five years.

He enjoyed a large victory that provided solace at home and abroad. But several questions are being raised over the road ahead.

Macron, 39, is an antidote to anti-EU candidates and populism which saw Britain vote to leave the European Union (EU). However, some said the win is the easy part for the former economy minister.

With his centrist party En Marche! (On the Move!) he created a year ago, the president-elect is under pressure to build a strong majority crucial to deliver on the promises of change and reforms.

Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve welcomed the fact that voters "rejected the fatal project of the extreme right."

"The aim of the legislative elections is to give strength and credibility to this aspiration," he said.

Ecology Minister Segolene Royal hailed Macron's victory as a "time to work together to build a presidential and parliamentary majority."

Speaking to Xinhua, Madani Cheurfa, secretary general of the Center of Political Research of Sciences Po (CEVIPOF), noted that Macron's victory was "optimistic but without triumphalism."

"He does not have a majority which creates certain fragility. A second campaign begins for him in order to convince the French," he added.

In a further sign of Macron's likely short-lived honeymoon at the Elysee, 25 percent of nearly 47 million voters abstained from the runoff, with more than 4.2 million having cast blank or void ballots.

In a statement, the CFDT trade union told Macron that he has to work further to convince French people.

"The feeling of being disenfranchised, of injustice, and even abandonment is present among a large number of our citizens. The anxiety expressed at the ballot by a part of the electorate must be heard," it added.

In his victory speech on Sunday, Macron acknowledged that his task is huge and it will require "the courage of truth."

"My responsibility will be to ease fears. My responsibility will be to unite all the women and men ready to face the gigantic challenges that await us," he said.

Inheriting a decade of anemic growth, rising unemployment rate and deteriorating competitiveness, the ex-investment banker pledged to end the economic malaise via "progressive" measures.

He pledged to further reduce French employment charges and increase workers' minimum wages by 500 euros (546.48 U.S. dollars) per year by cutting taxes on wages. He also wants to raise taxes on consumption and wealthy pensioners.

Furthermore, he promised to cut public expenditure by 60 billion euros (65.58 billion U.S. dollars) in order to stick to France's commitments to bring down budget deficit to the eurozone threshold of 3 percent.

He would also reduce corporate tax to 25 percent from the current 33.3 percent. In addition, he proposed a public investment scheme worth 50 billion euros (54.65 billion U.S. dollars) aimed to improve training, financing energy transition and modernizing the country's administrative services.

"Yesterday's election of Macron bodes well for the revitalization of France's lackluster economy and the European project more generally," said Jessica Hinds, economist at Capital Economics research consultancy based in London.

"But he will encounter plenty of opposition and may have to water down his growth-boosting reforms. Failures may well bolster support for his populist rival Marine Le Pen," she added.