Macron sees off far-right rival Le Pen

French President Emmanuel Macron secured a second five-year term after beating his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a presidential runoff vote on Sunday.

Macron won more than 58 percent of the ballots in the second round of voting, according to French Interior Ministry figures on Monday.

Some 48.7 million French were registered to vote. Voter abstention stood at 28.1 percent, up 2.7 percentage points from the second-round vote in 2017, Reuters reported.

In her concession speech, Le Pen, 53, described her election performance as a "striking victory" and said that she "will never abandon" the French. She called on voters to choose her National Rally party in legislative elections in June.

Macron and Le Pen had a similar faceoff in the 2017 election runoff when Macron won 66 percent of the votes over Le Pen's 34 percent, making the then 39-year-old Macron the youngest president in France's history with his victory at the helm of the La Republique en Marche party.

Macron, a centrist, won the first round of the election on April 10 by obtaining more than 27 percent of the ballots cast against Le Pen's 23 percent, among 12 candidates.

The two rivals had spent much time and effort after the first round trying to woo voters who supported leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, who got 22 percent of the votes in the initial round.

Melenchon did not publicly endorse Macron but told his supporters on April 10 that they should not give "a single vote" to Le Pen.

Macron had since cashed in on the concerns of Melenchon's supporters on climate change while Le Pen sought to win over Melenchon's supporters by framing the election as a referendum on Macron's performance in the past five years, citing the rising living costs, especially energy prices, and many other social and economic problems.

Le Pen was leading in all French overseas territories except French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

Macron's presidency in the past five years has been marred by the anti-government Yellow Vest movement, which lasted for many months after November 2018 when the public vented their anger over fuel taxes, and other social and economic problems. Macron was also criticized as a president of the wealthy.

Before the Sunday vote, there had been great concerns in the United States and the European Union over the possibility of a win by Le Pen, who has long been critical of NATO and the EU.

While Le Pen has condemned Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, she is known for having close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

She had earlier stated her desire to pull France out of NATO's integrated command structure "so as to be no longer caught up in conflicts that are not ours".

While Le Pen's party, the National Rally, is no longer talking about leaving the EU, the Schengen visa-free zone and the euro, she has been widely viewed as a Euroskeptic.

'Narrow win'

"Macron's victory is in fact a narrow one. It would be inappropriate to claim that his score reflects true support; many voted for him against Le Pen. It's unclear what big changes will be made during the next five years apart from a much-needed pension reform," said Tomasz Michalski, associate professor of Economics and Decision Sciences Department at HEC Paris.

He noted that Le Pen's high score in the second round shows the considerable progress she has made and the widespread adherence to her ideas.

"The underlying problems that led to the ascendance of Le Pen remain unresolved: deindustrialization, high unemployment among the least skilled, labor market polarization, a great urban divergence, the 'gig' economy, hollowing of public services, especially in small cities and rural areas, one of the lowest upward mobilities in OECD countries," Michalski said.

"It's unclear what of Macron's policies can help suffering areas unless some general quick growth resumes which in the current international political and economic situation is unlikely."

Putin congratulated Macron on his reelection, the Kremlin said on Monday.

The African Union on Monday also sent a congratulatory message to Macron.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.