Less than a week after the first-round of elections, the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues held a salon to discuss the possible outcomes for France’s final round of elections, scheduled to take place on May 7.

The salon was invitation-only and held on Friday, April 28.

French citizens went to the polls on Sunday, April 23, to vote for one of 11 candidates for the French presidency. According to Al-Jazeera news, since none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote, citizens will have a chance to vote in a run-off election, scheduled for this coming Sunday, May 7. Unlike that of the first-round, the ballots for the second-round will only include the names of the candidates who won the most number of votes on April 23, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.

The salon was first proposed by Assistant Professor of French Adeline Soldin last semester. Associate Professor of French Lucile Duperron suggested that the event take place in the format of a Clarke Forum Salon.

“I thought it was a great idea as salons lend themselves to informal, organize[d] conversations, thus encouraging both students, faculty and staff to engage with the topic in a more inclusive manner,” recalled Soldin.

Assistant professor of French Linda Brindeau echoed Soldin’s statement.

“[A salon] is a wonderful setting for discussing issues that brings a diverse student body outside of the classroom environment. The tradition of the French salon is perfect to generate witty, engaging and courteous conversations in the humanistic tradition.”

The 33 attendees discussed not only the results of the first-round of voting, where Macron gained 23.9 percent of votes while Le Pen received 21.4 percent, but they also discussed the electoral trends and processes of France. For example, Brindeau explained that even though she is not physically present in her city, she is eligible to vote through a designated proxy. The only conditions are that the proxy is the same person for both rounds and that he or she lives in the same city as the person they are voting for.

Participants also discussed what the results of the first round of elections imply for France. While traditionally the two main parties in the election are the Socialists “Parti socialiste” and the Republicans “Les Républicains,” the candidates for these parties did poorly compared to previous years. According to Al-Jazeera, the Socialists only gained 6.3 percent, compared to 51.6 percent they received in the previous election cycle in 2012, while the Republicans gathered 13.6 percent, compared to 48.4 percent in the last election under their previous name UMP (Union pour un movement populaire.)

Macron, who is the founder of the party En Marche!, has since gathered the endorsement of the more traditional parties, including “Les Républicains,” while Le Pen, with the Front National (FN) has been heavily criticized for her views on immigration and border control. 

“I am just very scared, very very scared. I am also looking forward to the legislative elections in June because even if Macron does get elected, if he has no representation in June, I just can’t see how he is going to get anything done,” she said. “This would… give the extreme-right even more power in five years…unless a strong commitment from traditional parties is enacted to stop the rise of the FN.”

Above all, Titilope Ogunsola ’19 was excited to experience a true French salon, especially with passionate individuals.

“I decided to attend the Salon because I remember learning about the French Salons and always wondered what it would be like to attend one…when I heard the Clarke Forum was hosting a Salon about the elections in France I was excited to attend because I knew it would be a room full of people who were interested in engaging in a sophisticated discussion of thought, where questions and opinions are more than welcomed.”

Following the event, Duperron is hopeful that the French voters will remain “rationalist[s].”

“Let’s hope that the French remain true to their rationalist tradition in the next round!”