Macron seeks to heal French divisions after re-election

French President Emmanuel Macron faced the daunting challenge of uniting a deeply divided nation Monday after winning re-election in a battle against Marine Le Pen that saw the far right come its closest yet to taking power.

Centrist Macron won 58.54 percent of the vote in the second-round run-off compared with 41.46 for Le Pen, according to final results from the interior ministry.

Macron is the first French president in two decades to win a second term and his victory prompted a sigh of relief throughout Europe.

But his victory over his far-right rival was narrower than their last face-off in 2017 when Macron won over 66 percent. Le Pen's result this time around was the best ever for the far right.

The president already has an overflowing in-tray, ranging from preparing for parliamentary elections in June to implementing explosive pension reform plans and dealing with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"The difficulties are going to start real soon," Brice Teinturier, managing director at public opinion specialists Ipsos France, told AFP.

Addressing supporters late Sunday, Macron vowed to heal rifts in a deeply divided country, promising a response to the "anger" that prompted many French to vote for the far right.

Turnout was the lowest in any presidential election second-round run-off since 1969 and, in another striking sign of disenchantment with politics, 8.6 percent of people who voted either delivered a blank ballot or spoilt their papers.

"We need to respond to the angry and worried messages from millions of French people who say 'I can't make ends meet'," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday.

The 44-year-old president now faces parliamentary elections in June, where keeping a majority...