With the slogan “Avec vous”, which translates to “with you”, Macron is trying to defend his constituents. During the election campaign, he, among other things, promised full employment and reform of the pension system.

But critics say he was legally involved late in the election campaign, and that he had created too little enthusiasm. In the latest polls, Macron had between 53 and 56 percent of support against 44-47 percent for far-right populist Marine Le Pen.

But even though he is clearly leading in the polls ahead of the second round on Sunday, there is a lot of uncertainty. Indecisive or unfaithful voters and residents can change this relationship. Sunday’s win is far from over.

Work and retirement

At the age of 39, Macron was elected in 2017 as president of France from the party he founded the previous year, called La République en Marche! – in the future Norwegian Republic!

During the election campaign, Macron admitted that he did not fulfill his 2017 election promise to reform the pension system. He has promised to finish the job and change his retirement age from 62 to 65 – if he is re-elected.

He has also made three other big promises:

* Reform of the benefits system which means that the unemployed have to spend 15 to 20 hours a week on work or training.

* Establish a common centralized system for social benefits, which will include, inter alia, benefits for unemployment, housing and childcare benefits. Such a change would affect up to 20 million French people.

* Increased public investment to 50 billion euros per year, which is equivalent to nearly 500 billion Norwegian kroner. The money will be used for everything from health and education, to defense and new technology.

Lack of an election campaign?

Macron’s challenger is once again the radical right-wing Marine Le Pen. Macron won him in the last election with 66.1 percent of the vote – against 33 percent of Le Pen. Since then, Le Pen has further strengthened his support.

Macron has received heavy criticism this year for taking the election campaign too lightly – and the question is how this affects support and Sunday’s vote.

Lift

Macron has also experienced a reduction in power. His presidency has been marked by protests from the Yellow West movement and demonstrations against the coronation act and high electricity prices.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the president played a key role in persuading President Putin to end the war. This increased his reputation among many French. But at the same time, most are most concerned with their own problems, such as declining purchasing power and financial problems. And this is a problem that Le Pen has struggled with.

Sunday’s outcome is uncertain – although Macron appears to be leading with relative ease.