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French President Emmanuel Macron is in the fight of his brief political life.
His lead over his opponent Marine Le Pen for Sunday's election to choose France's next president has narrowed and political observers in Western Europe are shudder! shudder! preparing for the possibility of a Le Pen residency at the Élysée Palace, where French presidents live.
Macron did not actively campaign during the first round of voting for the presidency, but after the race got tight, the usually aloof leader has done the kind of stuff that politicians do when they desperately want to win elections. Kiss babies. Press the flesh. Even wear boxing gloves and have a mock bout.
Please click on the images for glimpses of Candidate Macron in action.
IMAGE: Macron campaigns in the Auguste Delaune stadium in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, on Thursday.
All photographs: Francois Mori/Pool/Reuters
IMAGE: Before he was appointed minister for the economy in then president François Hollande's government, Macron was a high flying civil servant.
He resigned from the government in 2016, just two years after he had been a minister, and decided to run for the presidency, floating a new party, the La République En Marche! that challenged both the right wing Gaullists and the left wing Socialists.
IMAGE: Astonishingly, just a year, a month and a day after La République En Marche! was born, Macron was elected to the presidency, winning 66.1% of the vote. He has not been a popular president though with his policies incurring the wrath of much of the electorate.
IMAGE: Macron and Le Pen had a television debate this week.
In the debate with Macron before the 2017 election, Le Pen performed so badly that she has reportedly never watched a video of that encounter.
This time, she demonstrated an impressive command over the themes that concern all of France.
Most observers thought the president had clearly won the debate; others felt Le Pen had acquitted herself well, but did not appear presidential enough.
IMAGE: If Le Pen does the unthinkable and wins Sunday's election, Europe will need to be prepared for a Trump-like revolution in the way France does business with the European Union and the world.
Hours away from the results, the bout is still Emmanuel Macron's to lose.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
